THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES OHOOL ELOCUTION A MANUAL OF VOCAL TRAINING IN HIGH SCHOOLS, NORMAL SCHOOLS, AND ACADEMIES BY JOHI^ SWETT PRINCIPAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS' HIGH AND NORMAL SCHOOL EX-STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, STATE OF CALIFORNIA ; AUTHOR OF " METHODS OF TEACHING " NEW YOEK .:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1884, by A. L. Bancroft & Co. S>. Hppleton &. Company Dew l?orti, U S. a PRBKACK. This book is not an elaborate treatise, designed for special teach- ers of elocution, but a drill-book of essentials for use by teachers that do not make elocution a specialty. In most High and Normal schools, and in the advanced Grammar grades, the curriculum is so crowded that there is no time for the special training given by professional teachers of elocution to select classes of private pupils. The time generally allotted to reading and elocution seldom ex- ceeds that allowed for vocal music — perhaps one or two hours a week. Hence the successful training of larg? classes involves a great deal of concert drill; and this requires the use of a suitable manual of principles, directions, and drill exercises. This treatise owes its existence to the difficulties met with in the management of a very large High school, including a post- graduate Normal department, in which an honest effort has been made to secure a fair degree of attention to school reading and elocution. Fully realizing the limitations of teachers in similar schools, I have endeavored to keep within the bounds of what it is possible to accomplish without makmg elocution a hobby. The salient points of this hand-book are as follows 1. It includes only what it is possible to take up without material interference with the ordinary school curriculum. 2. It embraces only what pupils of average ability are capable of comprehending and mastering. 3. It includes a fair outfit of principles and practice for those who intend to become teachers. 4. It can be effectively used by teachers who are not specialists In elocution. IV SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 5. It contains clear and concise statements of principles and rules. 6. It is characterized by the copiousness and freshness of the illustrative drill-examples. It was my good fortune, more than thirty years ago, to be a student imder that most critical and scholarly elocutionist and Nor- mal-school instructor, Professor William Russell; and it is natural that I should follow in the steps of my revered instructor. I am also indebted to many excellent manuals on elocution for principles and examples that constitute the common stock of matter on this sub- ject. I am under obligations to the publishers of the works of Ameri- can authors for permission to make short extracts from then- pub- lications, and in particular, to Houghton, jMifflin & Co., for extracts from Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, and Emerson. JOHN SWETT. CONTENTS. PART I. ORTHOPHONY AND ORTHOEPY. I. Introductory Hints and Directions 11 II. Vowel Sounds 15 III. Consonant Sounds 35 IV. Classification of Elementary Sounds 39 V. Orthoepy 45 PART II. PRINCIPLES IN ELOCUTION. CHAPTER I. EMPHASIS, PAUSES, AND INFLECTIONS. I. II. III. Emphasis . . . • Pauses ..... I. Grammatical Pauses . II. Rhetorical Pauses III. Rules for Rhetorical Pauses IV. Emphatic Pauses Inflection .... I. The Rising Inflection . II. The Falling Inflection III. Inflection of the Parenthesis IV. The Circumflex Inflection V. The Monotone . VI. Examples of Pauses, Emphasis, and Inflection 57 64 65 65 69 73 75 82 95 109 111 119 128 CHAPTER 11. FORCE AND STRESS. I. Force of Voice 141 I. Very Soft Force 144 II. Soft or Subdued Force 144 III. Moderate Force 147 IV. Loud Force 149 V. Very Loud or Declamatory Force . . • .151 II. Stress of Voice I. II. III. IV. Radical Stress . Median Stress . Vanishing Stress Thorough Stress Compound Stress 155 155 165 172 175 180 Intermittent Stress ....... 181 (V) VI SCHOOL ELOCUTION. CHAPTER in. MOVEMENT. I. Moderate Movement 187 II. Fast Movement 189 III. Very Fast Movement 191 IV. Slow Movement 194 V. Very Slow Movement 195 CHAPTER IV. PITCH OF VOICE. I. Introductory 199 II. Concert Drill 200 III. Faults 201 IV. Examples of Middle Pitch 201 V. Examples of High Pitch 203 VI. Examples of Low Pitch 209 VII. Examples of Very Low Pitch 211 CHAPTER V. QUALITY OF VOICE. I. Pure Tone 216 II. The Orotund 220 III. Aspirated Quality 230 IV. Guttural Quality 237 V. The Falsetto 238 VI. The Semitone 239 CHAPTER VI. MODULATION AND STYLE OF EXPRESSION. I. Modulation 245 II. The Reading of Poetry 248 III. Imitative Reading 255 IV. Exercises in Modulation 259 V. Dialect Reading and Personation 262 PART III. MISCELLANEOUS SELECTIONS. SECTION I. PROSE SELECTIONS. 1. Elocutionary Training .... 277 2. Good Reading . John S. ITari 279 3. Tiie Music of the Human Voice Prnf. IVm. Rusucll 280 4. The Art of Reading . Dr. Rush 281 5. On Learning hy Heart Lnshington 283 6. School Libraries . 286 7. Poems Oliver JFendcU Holmes 287 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Vll 8. Scrooge and Marley 9. Defense of Poetry . 10. Falstaff , . . . 11. Wealth . . . . 12. The Astronomer's Vision 13. Education 14. Mathematics and Physics Charles Dickciis JVilliam Ellery Channing Henry Giles Ralph Waldo Emerson Professor Huxley , , Herbert Silencer 288 293 296 298 300 302 304 SECTION II. PROSE DECLAMATIONS. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Character of True Eloquence National Greatness . The Passing of the Rubicon Our Duties to Our Countiy The American War . Freedom .... The Voices of the Dead . Grattan's Reply to Mr. Corry Supposed Speech of John Adams The Constitution and the Union The Constitution Duties of American Citizens Labor .... The Future of America . Patriotism The Fourth of July . True Greatness The Normans . Washington's Birthday . Nations and Humanity . Character of Washington Bunker Hill Monument . The Birthday of Washington The National Clock Free Schools . The Ballot . Educational Power . Schools and Teachers Elements of the American Governmeut . Daniel Webster John Bright Knowles . Daniel Webster . Lord Chatham Col. E. D. Baker . Orville Dewey . Daniel Webster . Daniel Webster . Daniel Webster . Daniel Webster Orville Dewey . Daniel Webster . T. F. Meagher . Daniel Webster Thomas Starr King Frederick P. Tracy . Daniel Webster . Geo. W. Curtis Phillips . Daniel Webster Rufus Choate Thomas Starr King Horace Mann . E. H. Chapin Daniel Webster 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 317 317 318 819 320 321 322 323 325 326 327 328 329 331 332 333 334 335 337 338 SECTION III. RECITATIONS AND READINGS: POETRY. 1. The Crowded Street 2. The Builders . William Cullen Bryant 340 . H. W. Longfellow 341 VIU SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 3. Psalm of Life . 4. Apostrophe to the Ocean . 5. Battle of Waterloo . 6. Santa Filomena 7. The Death Struggle 8. Sandalphon 9. The Old Continentals . 10. The Winds . 11. The Day is Done . 12. The Battlefield 13. Hymn to Mont Blanc 14. Morning Hymn 15. Thanatopsis . 16. Gray's Elegy . 17. Daniel Webster 18. St. Augustine's Ladder . 19. Ring Out, Wild Bells . 20. Summer Rain . . . . 21. Hymn to the North Star 22. The American Flag 23. The Chambered Nautilus 24. Kentucky Belle 25. The Charcoal Man . 26. Grandmother's Story of Bunke r HUl . H. TF. Longfellow 342 Lord Byron 344 iMrd Byron 346 . H. W. Longfellow 347 Sir Waller Scott 349 . E. W. Longfellow 350 McMastcrs 352 William Cullen Bryant 354 . H. W. Longfellow 356 William Cullen Bryant 357 . Coleridge 359 John Milton 362 William Cullen Bryant 363 366 Oliver Wendell Holmes 371 H. W. Longfellow 373 . Tennyson 375 James Russell Lowell 376 William Cullen Bryant 377 Drake 379 Oliver Wendell Holmes 381 Coistance F. Woolson 382 Trowbridge 389 . 0. W. Holmes 391 PART I. PART I. ORTHOPHONY AND ORTHOEPY. SECTIOl^ I. INTRODUCTORY HINTS AND DIRECTIONS. 1. As correct pronuuciation is an essential of good reading, it is important tliat pupils should acquire at the outset a thorough knowledge of the elementary sounds of the Enghsh language, and that they should be trained to a ready command of the organs of speech. 2. The melody of our mother-tongue depends in a great measure on the fullness and purity with which the vowel sounds are given. The most marked provin- cialisms in our country consist chiefly in the peculiar shades of sound given to certain vowels. 3. In high schools and normal scliools, if anywhere, critical attention ought to be given to pronunciation. It is desirable that pupils should become familiar with the diacritical marks of the dictionary in order that they may be able to find, by themselves, the correct pronunciation of any word. 4. It is the object of the following lessons to train (1) the ear to the correct sound ; (2) the voice to distinct enunciation ; and (3) the eye to the use of diacritical marks. (11) 12 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. I. Hints to Teachers. 1. In all short concert drill exercises, require pupils to stand, and to stand erect. Let the concert drill be preceded by a breathing exercise. 2. Insist upon it that pupils hold tlie book properly in the left hand, high enough to bring the head erect. ' 3. In the more difficult drill exercises, the teacher should first read the examples, requiring pupils to repeat in concert. To some extent, elocution must be taught by imitation. 4. The true economy of time in vocal culture, as in vocal music, consists in training large numbers together. The concert drill lessons may be given to two or three hundred pupils in the assembly hall as effectively as to a single class in the recitation room. 5. The concert drill in phonic spelling is designed to give pupils the full command of their vocal organs, and also to secure accurate articulation, enunciation, and pronunciation. At first, it may be desirable for the teacher to lead the class, giving every sound clearly, forcibly, and distinctly. 6. The grouped lists of words illustrating the vowel sounds should be pronounced distinctly and forcibly by the teacher, then by the class in concert, and finally, by individual pupils. The monosyllables in these lists should be spelled by sound, first by th.e teacher, next by the class in concert, and, finally, by individual pupils, 7. Insist upon it that pupils practice every lesson, after it has been read in school, at home, by themselves. 8. Impress upon pupils the fact that good reading, like vocnl music, requires long-continued practice. 9. Insist upon it tliat pupils, when reading, shall raise their eyes from the book when approaching the end of a sentence, and repeat the last five or ten words look- ing directly at the teacher or the class. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 13 II. Hints to Pupils. 1. Stand erect when you read, and hold the book in your left hand, high enough to bring the head erect. 2. By frequent inhalations, keep your lungs well filled with air. 3. Eead loud enough to be easily heard by every mem- ber of your class. If possible, look over the advance lesson before the hour of class drill. 4. After the class drill at school, read each lesson by yourself at home. You can become a good reader only by patient and persevering practice. 5. If you have any marked faults in reading, you must endeavor to correct them by self-culture out of school. 6. Enter into the spirit of whatever you read, and read it so as to convey that spirit to those who listen. 7. Think about the meaning of what you read. Eefer to the dictionary for the definition of any word you do not fully comprehend, or for the pronunciation of any word with which you are not familiar. 8. Listen attentively to the reading of your teacher, or of the best readers in the class, and try to imitate their style of reading. 9. Train yourself to the habit of raising your eyes from the book to look at the teacher or the class. It is a matter of politeness to look at those to whom you speak, or to whom you read. As you approach the end of a sentence, glance your eye along the words in ad- vance of the tongue, and then complete the sentence without looking on the book. It is a good plan to practice this by yourself before a mirror. 10. Endeavor to become so familiar with the diacrit- ical marks that you can find out, for yourself, from the dictionary, the pronunciation of any word without re- ferring to the key, the table of sounds, or the teacher. 14 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. III. PllELIMINAKY BREATHING EXERCISES. Concert drill exercises in articulation and 2J^'ominciation shoidd he preceded hy short treathing exercises. Tliese may he conducted in a great variety of ways, of which only a few are here indicated. The length of time in inhaling or exhaling may he regulated hy the rise or fall of the teacher s hand. 1. Stand erect ; feet firm ; body braced ; shoulders well back^ arms akimbo. 2. Inhale slowly through the nostrils for five seconds; exhale slowly through the nostrils for five seconds. Eepeat five times. Eegulate the inhaling and exhaling by the rise and fall of the hand. In inhaling, fill the lower part of the lungs and do not elevate the shoulders.. 3. Take a similar exercise, prolonging the time, first to ten seconds, next to fifteen seconds, and finally to twenty seconds. 4. Inhale; exhale slowly, giving, in a soft whisper, the sound of " Ah ! " prolonged for five seconds ; ten seconds ; as long as possible. 5. Inhale ; exhale slowly, giving the sound of long o, in pure tone, prolonged for five seconds ; next for ten seconds ; then foi fifteen seconds ; and finally, as long as possible. 6. Inliale ; exhale slowly, giving for ten seconds the sound of long e; of Italian a; of long oo. 7. Inhale ; repeat, in monotone, the long vowels, a, e, i, 0, u, until the breath is exhausted. 8. Inhale; count, with one breath, to 10; next, to 20; then, to 30. 9. Repeat, in one breath, the letters of the alphabet. 10. Inhale slowly ; exhale slowly, giving the sound of liquid I prolonged for five seconds ; ten seconds ; fifteen seconds ; twenty seconds ; next, the sound of m ; of n ; of r. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 15 SECTION II. VOWEL SOUNDS OR VOCALS. I. Table of Diacritical Markings. I. PHONIC MARKS OF VOCAtS. Macron, Breve. Circumflex. Tuio dots. One dot Waue or — ^ A, '• • Tilde. '- file at air arm, all ask, what eve, they end where her Ice, by it, lynx pique sir did on or prove son, wdf moon book use up urge rule pull II. EQUIVALENT VOCALS OB SUBSTITUTES. ar=o what. not 6 = ii done. siin e=:a they, day 0, U = 00 move. rule, school i = e sir, her 0, 11=: 00 wolf. pull, M'OOl e = a there. care y = i rhyme. time i = e pique, weak y-i hymn, whim 6 rr a or, all III. MABKINGS OF SUBVOCAUS AND ASPIRATES. q, 9h = s, sh qent, 9hai§e § = z i§, ro§e €, €hz=k ■eake. a-ehe £h, vocal fhis, Chat g, hard go, get n = ng ink, wink a — \ t> —J gem, age ? = gz example 16 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. II. Illustkations OF Vocals. I. The long sound of a. Marked with a macron, thus — a. The equivalents of long a are also included. Avoid prolonging the vanish- infT e sound, thus — ma-eed for made. age day break great pale gay steak straight aid may deign weight paid way reign freight gauge yea neigh — O sleigh a're a narked may'or ma'tron ma'cron WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. ra''dix prai'rie ra'^tion ^ais'son pa'tron pasf'ry sa'chem gla'mour hein'ous pa'tri ot a'pri cot ap pa ra^'tus maelstrom pa tri ot'ic va'ri e gat ed IL Italian or open a. Marked with two dots over it, thus — a. Avoid the provincialism of haf for half, laf for laugh, etc. art €alf piilm iih! giiunt liiunch are liiilf psiilm biih! hiiuut stiiunch arm halves siilve piifhs jiiunt liiugh alms •ealves lath aunt tiiunt quiilms bfilni biith gape daunt criiunch zouiive ■eiilui path wriith flaunt hiiunch heiirth WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. dauntless jaun^dice saun 'ter Col rii'do guii'va liiun'dry jaunt'y Ne vii'da gua'no laughler pi ii'no Mon tii'na gauntlet llii'ma so prii'no Tu lii're haunt'ed pla'za flnti /le So lii'no SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 17 in. The broad sound of a. Marked with two dots under it, thus — a. Avoid the two extremes: (1) That of giving a the sound of short o, as 611 for awl, etc. (2) That of making a equal to two syllables, as a\/ul for all, caw'iil for call, etc. ball €aught chalk al'der fau'^et tall ought talic aFways €al'dron drawl brought stalk au^ger fal'^hion erawl thought gauze €au'-eus pal'try sprawl groat haul sau^qer 6/der IV. The short sound of a. Marked with a breve, thus — a. Avoid giving short a, as in at, the sound of intermediate a, as in ask, or of Italian a, as in alms. Say and, not and ; an^swer, not an'swer, etc. and an'swer pat^'ent ra'tion al bade bar'rel pag'eant rail'le ry €atch har'row rath'er sat'ir ist ])lant nia/ry na'tion al suav'i ty plaid na/row pat'ron age tap'est ry V. Sound of a as in care. Marked with a circumflex, thus — a. Avoid the two extremes : (1) That of giving it the sound of Italian a, as char for chair, thar for there, etc. (2) That of long a, as €a'er for -eare, thtVer for there, a'er for air, etc. air swear there pare par'ent dare square where pair fai/y rare weir their fare char'y fair hare hair lair S€arce'ly bear pear 2 heir prayer s^ar'Qi ty 18 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. YL Intermediate a, as in ask. Marked with a dot over it, thus — a. This is a medium sound between Italian a and short a. Avoid the two extremes : (1) That of Italian a, as farst for fast, darnce for dance, etc. (2) That of short a, as ask for ask, dance lor dance, after for after, etc. ask €hant dance graft lance quaff ant €haff daft grant mass raft aft €hance draft glance mast rasp bask €ast draught gasp mask shaft basque €lass fast grasp pass staff brass €raft llask hasp past slant blast ■elasp glass haft pant task ■easque •eask grass last prance trauce T. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. In all these words be careful to give a its intermediate sound as in ask, not the short sound as in and. after fast'er mas^'ter pass'port bas'ket fast'est mas'tiff raft'er ■eas'ket glass'y pas^time slant'iug ■elass'es grass'y pas'tor task' work -eraft'y last'ing plas'ter vast'ness ^rafts'man mass'ive past'ure waft'ed II. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. a slant' com mand' ad van'tage a mass' dis mast' ad vance'ment a las' de mand' com mand'ment a A'ast en hance' en chant'ment ad vance en chant' en hance'ment a baft' per chance' re mand'ed SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 19 VIL Sound of a as in what. Marked with a dot under it, thus — a. equivalent to short o, as in nut. The pronounced hwut, not wiit. squash squaVble swap squat'ter swan squal'id swamp squad'ron swab qua/rel wand swallow was wad ^^asp yacht S(|uab squad This sound is word ichat is staVwart wal-let wal'low wadMle wm/ton Mas'sail Call on the class for additional words. vin. The long sound of e. Marked with a macron, thus — e. Long e is one of the three vowel extremes, a and o being the other two. be thief ei'ther e'go tism tree niece nei'ther e'qui poise beam siege lei'gure le'ni ent ■clean seize le'ver a me'na ble ear deed fe'brile pre (jed'ence eaves fierce fe'ti9h re'qui em IX. The short sound of e. Avoid yit for yet, aig Marked with a breve, thus^-e. for egg, etc. beg feoff leath'er ket'tle tepid leg any mea§'ure met'ric tcn'et bread mer'ry plea§'ure preface res'in said bur'y bes'tial petlel a gain' says heifer dee'ade perltke a gainsf deaf leop'ard fetid seck'el for get' 20 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. X. Sound of e as in verge. Marked with a ^ svave or tilde, thus — e. This sound nearly coincides with the sound of u as in urge, but is not quite so broad and guttural. Avoid the error of sounding e like ai, as airth for earth, etc. Give the r after e its full sound. err serve earth er'mine serv'ant her verse earn earn'est ve/dict herd verge learn mer'cy herb'age fern verb heard nier^chant earn'ings pert were myrrh pei-'son ser'mon nerve germ thirst per'fect ser'vice XL Sound of e as in there. Marked with a circumflex, thus — e. This sound is identical with the sound of a as in care. there air hair there'fore where ere heir where^fore their e'er ne'er where a§' XIL Sound of e as in they. Marked with a macron under it, thus — e. This sound is identical with long a. they whey weight vein neigh'bor prey way freight vain hein'ous pray neigh straight deign la'bor xiiL The long sound of i and y. Marked with a macron, thus — I, y. Isle die liar fire ho rI''zon style eye lyre buy'er in quir'y fire ties by ti'ny de rl'sive lyre aye§ rye ty'rant as pir'ant SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 21 XIV. The short sound of i and y. Marked with a breve, thus — i, y. hiin lynx dis'trict hymn nymph syn'od withe sylph vine'yard myth rhythm syr'inge pith schigm syn'tax trlb'une syr'up vi-e'ar pret'ty wit'ty XV. Sound of i as in first. Marked with a wave or tilde, thus — i. identical with the sound of e as in her. the broader and more guttural sound of Be careful to give r its full sound. first thirst girl mirth firm worm world work worse worth birch birth dirge verge earth myrrh dearth bird gird pearl sir fir stir earn fern learn her perch heard hearse (^ii-'-ele 9ir'-euit qir'^us gir'dle irk'some mer'cjy earthly ear'ly earn'est earth'en This sound is Avoid giving iL as in urge. vir'tue vir'gin stii-'rup squiT'rel sii-'loin thii-'ty worfh'y (jer'tain mirth'ful worthless XVL Sound of i as in pique. Marked with two dots over it, tlius — i. This sound is equivalent tc ) that of long e as in me. an tique' €ui §ine' ma chine' rou tine' has tile' de bi-is' ma rine' ra vine' €a price' e lite' po lice' re gime' qhe nille' en nui' pe tite' ton tine' qhe mi§e' fa tigue' ob lique' u nique' cri tique' fas qine' pe lisse' phy §ique' 22 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. xvn. The long sound of o. Marked with a macron, thus — 5. Avoid shortening or obscuring the sound of long o as in old, in such words as road, coat, home, bone, stone, etc. b5ne ■eolt jolt yoke on'ly stone ■eomb most yolk 6'ral both dait smoke quoth whoriy broke folks spoke beau close'ly choke h5ld flown show lonely cloak home whole won't tro'phy croak roam more do n't o'pal oak hold roar goat 6'dor I. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. Avoid the error of saying horse for hoarse, force for force. boat ■coax door ■e5arse gourd bl5w €oat load floor hoarse mourn trow t5ad loam brooch source toll glow toast oath pour force poll sew road 5ats porch board s€roll quoth goad throat borne hoard roll gross II. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. In words like the following, avoid the error of giv- ing long the sound of o as in or'der ; as bor'der for board'er, for'ger for for'ger, por'trait for por'trait, etc. Give o its full, long sound. board'er por'ter an cluYvy de eo'rous bowl'der por'tion a ro'ma dl plo'ma cy bSw'sprit por'trait ab dcYuien dl plo'ma tist poul'try for'ger €o r5'na op po'nent poultice stor'age €on do'lence so no'rous shoul'der raourn'er €og n5'men for'ger y SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 23 xviiL The short sound of o. Marked with a breve, thus — o. The sound of short 0, as in not, is slightly modified by the different con- sonants with which it is combined. In words like cough, gone, loss, etc., the sound of short o is modified so that it tends towards a sound intermediate between short o and broad a. Avoid the common error of saying dawg or dorg for dog ; gawd or gord for god ; also, that of gut for got, etc. on dog off eost moth cough of f6g scoff lost cloth trough odd lug moss frost oft long box got loss sloth soft strong fox god toss broth loft gong phlox hod €ross troth gone wrong I. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. In every word give o its clean-cut short sound. €om'ma do^'ile flor^'in mon'ad eom'mon don'key hov'el nom'ad €om'et for'est grov'el 6ffi9e ■eom'bat fore'head hor'rid or'ange €om'rade fron'tier jo€^md offset col'lar for'age loft> ofPing con'flict god'ly soft'ly dog'ma €ou'strue sloth'ful oft'en doc'tor II. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONO CNCED. bon'net pro^'ess stoFid dol' or ous €offee prog^'ress squal'id hor €aust €offin proj'ect quar'rel mon'o gram ■eor'al phon'ic be troth' mSl 'e €ule prod'uct prov'ost be long' on'er ous prod'uce son'net ex tol' or'a ele 24 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. XIX. Sound of as in done. Marked with a dot over it, thus — 6. This sound is identical with short u as in sun. none some a bove' oven does tongue boin'bast on'ion doth rough bor'ough oth'er dost €61'or ■eov'er plov'er €6me €6v'et hov'er €6iis'in bomb doz'en hon'ey slov'en blood €6u'jure mon'grel wor'ry XX. Sound of as in move. Marked with two dots under it, thus — o. This sound is identical with that of oo in moon, and of u after r, as in rule. Avoid the provincialism of reducing the sound of o, 00, and u to that of long m or ew, thus — dew for do, trew for true, tew for to, yew for you, skewl for school, etc. The sound of o, oo, or u is one of the extremes of the vowel scale, made correctly by projecting the lips free from the teeth. move hoof croup youth €a noe' prove roof group truth a do" lo§e root soup through sham poo' do boot M'hoop grew bam boo' to spoon loop tool tat too' too soon route ghoul ap prove' two noon shoot con tour' re proof you schoo' wound ba rourhe' be hove' noose rule soon car toucjhe'' gam boge' loose im moon ta boo' de tour' cool rude your rul'er who goose ru§e shoe move'ment whom moose choo§e soothe moon'shine whose spoon fruit tour ob trude' ru'ral SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 25 XXL Sound of as in for. Marked with a circumflex, thus — 6. This sound of o is identical with broad a as in all. It occurs before r in words of one syllable ; in accented syllables when not followed by another r ; and also in the derivatives of such words as north, northern, etc. Be careful to give r its full sound. 6r €orpse •eo/dial gor'geous cor^'ner for horse bo/der mor'tal cor'niye nor storm fo/mal mor'sel or'der born thorn fo/ceps mort'gage 6r'(^hard wolf ■eould n't would would n't €9uld should n't b9'§om wood'en book pull €o6k hood hook put look push XXIL Sound of as in wolf. Marked with a dot under it, thus — a This sound is identical with that of short oo, as in book, and that of u as in full. wors^ted wolfish good'ness wo'man xxiiL The long sound of u. Marked with a macron, thus — ti. This is a compound sound, formed of a slight sound of y joined with oo long. After d, t, I, n, and s, it is somewhat difficult to introduce the y sound. Avoid the two extremes: (1) That of overdoing the y sound, so as to make du'ty sound like jii'ty. (2) That of sounding u like oo long, as doo'ty for dii'ty. u§e €ube diie lieii siiit piire fu§e €ure siie view deiice liire mii§e til be hiie ewe feiid dupe mute tiine flue new sliiice diine 26 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. I. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. bu'gle flu'id niu'sic liu'mid beai/ty hu'man pu'pil nui'san^e €u'bi-e ju'ry pu'trid neu'ter du'ty lu'pme stu'pid suit'or II. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. €om mu'ni €ate ■eom mu'ni ty lu^na 9y €on sti tuition ■eu''mu la tive lu'na tic el -eu^tion lu^miu a ry niu'§i €al rev lu'tion lu gu'bri ous ed^u -eate in sti tu'tion per pe tu'i ty €ar€u late XXIV. The short sound of u. Marked with a breve, thus — ii. Avoid the vulgarism of saying op for tip, on'der for iin'der, etc. Say hiir'ry, not hur^ry ; €our'age, not eu/age. biid bur'row iin'der eu/ren cy biiff fiir'row iip'per sov'er eign dumb miir'rain iit'ter hur'ri cane eur'ry fliir'ry guf'ter dron/e da ry XXV. Sound of u as in rule. Marked with two dots under it, tlius — u. This sound of u, when it follows the consonant r, is identical with that of as in move, and oo in moon. Eule rhymes with fool, rude with mood, true witli too, you with grew. brute rule brui§e pniMenqe ru'mor fruit school •eruige pru'dent tru'ant crude truth €ru'el prud^ish ti'ii'iy rude youth gru'el ru'in truffle prude true bru'tal rubral dru'id prune chew bru'in ruth'less do'ing SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 27 XXVL Sound of u as in t.T^e. Marked with a circumflex, thus — u. This sound occurs in monosyllables before r not followed by a vowel; in accented syllables before r final, or r followed by one or more consonants different from itself, and in deriva- tives from any such words. It coincides with e as in verge, i as in thirst, and o as in word, except that u is somewhat broader and more cjuttural. burn furl spurt word su/geon burst hurl spvirn work stur'geon €iir hurt purge worm mu/der ■eurl purse urn world miir'mur eurse nurse turn worth bur^den XXVII. Sound of u as in full. Marked with a dot under it thus — u. This sound is identical with that of o as in wdf, and short oo as in book. bull puss bullock puriet bush pull butcl/er pulley push full bush'eg puFpit put wolf burrush piidMing wood cook buFlet put'ting XXVIII. The diphthong oi as in oil. Thed iphthongs oi and oy are equivalents. The sound of oi is a compound of a+i. oil hoist foist joy boiler boil moist poige troy loi'ter broil joist noi§e boy roy'al •eoil toil quoit buoy loy'al €oin soil point toy oiiit'ment loin roil joint oys'ter voy'age 28 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. XXIX. The diphthongs ou and ow. The diphthong on, identical with ow, is a of a-f-o. Open the moutli freely in giving of this sound. out ounce our doubt drought gouge ■eow how now owl fowl howl ground round sound ■elown drown frown hour flour sour s€our plow slouo;h compound the initial bower power lower shower tower dower III. ExEECiSES ON Vocals. I. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Concert drill exercises on the following table may he given as follows : 1. Preliminary breathing exercise. 2. Concert phonic spelling of the words under each vocal. 3. Concert pronunciation of words, with various de- grees of force from the whisper to loud force, and with the rising, the falling, and the circumflex inflections. 4. If time will allow, require each pupil, singly, to take the drill indicated above. II. TABtB OF VOCALS. a. — ille, silil, pay, they, vein, gauge, break, gaol. ' \x. — iih ! tire, hiilf, liiugh, hearth, guard, iiunt, iilms. a, 6. — all, awe, aught, broad, stalk, naught, ought, a. — add, and, at, bade, plaid, catch, man, hand, a, e. — air, dare, befir, there, square, ere, heir, e'er, a. — ant, ask, dance, cliance, glass, last, staff, gasp, a, o. — was, wand, wasp, what, swap, not, blot, god. e. — me, we, bee, bean, fierce, niece, seize, key, tea. e. — end, dread, said, say§, deaf, feoff, yes, get, yet. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 29 TABLE OF VOCAXS Continued. e, 1. — err, her, earth, were, verge, myrrh, thirst, work. e, a. — vein, deign, rein, they, prey, weight, neigh, e, a. — there, where, air, ere, bare, ne'er, care, e'er. 1, y. — ice, pine, fire, lyre, lie, liar, aisle, aye§, eye§. 1. — in, pin, been, hymn, myth, sieve, build, since. I, e. — thirst, first, girl, earn, learn, bird, third, worst. i, e. — pique, clique, ob lique', pol ice', ma rine^ 6. — 51d, oak, broke, pour, ore, door, toll, sew, tow. 6, a. — odd, not, dog, god, lost, off, cough, moss, loss. o, 00, u. — move, moon, rule, do, route, true, grew, you. 6, a. — or, nor, horse, quart, wart, corn, storm, born. 6, u. — done, son, d6e§, doth, sponge, blood, flood, run. o, 00, u. — wolf, would, wood, should, book, cook, put. ii. — u§e, mu§e, diie, few, view, feiid, tiine, cube, tube, u, 6. — tub, but, diist, triist, done, d6e§, bomb, criimb. u, 00, o. — rule, rude, truth, youth, spoon, move, prove. u. — urge, purge, burn, turn, fur, burr, cur, curl, furl. II, do, 0. — put, pull, piish, bush, puss, book, took. oi, oy. — oil, boil, toil, boy, joy, cloy, roil, coil, foil, ou, ow. — out, our, ounce, flour, power, sour, owl. III. CONCERT DRILL. In concert drill on the followimj table, observe the fol- lowing directions. 1. Eead the columns vertically. 2. Eepeat with slow movement; moderate; fast. 3. Repeat in a forcible wliisper. 4. Eepeat with gentle force; moderate; loud. a-a-a e-e-e ll-U-U a-a-a i-i-I u-ii-ii a-a-a i-i-i U-ll-U a-a-a 6-5-5 u-u-u e-e-e W V w 0-0—0 oi-oi-oy ^^ v ^ e-e-e o-o-o ou-nu-ow 30 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. IV. Vowel Sounds in Unaccented Syllaj^les. There are many delicate shades of sound in unac- cented vowels which must be learned from the lips of the living teacher, or by noticing carefully the pro- nunciation of educated and critical 2:)eople. L Final unaccented ar, er, ir, or, yr. The vowels a, e, i, o, u, y, preceding r in final unac- cented syllables, have the sound of c as in her. beg'gar al'der iirlnor suFphur ■eoriar banlier jir'dor au'gur dol'lar lad^'der €6ror zeph'yr Ifar pamper o'dor marlyr molar ta'pir parlor salyr polar na'dir felnur hon'or stellar mill or lelinir fron(-urn) ^ellar ma'jor miirluur a'pron(-uru) II. Final -ain like -en. €ap^tain mill •1-ain chieftain ■eurlain villain chaplain qe/taiu bar' gain planlain III. Words having a or o unaccented. In words like the following, a or o in unaccented final sylhibles has a slightly obscured sound of short u. filial vftal phanlom ten'ant fis'-eal vf/^al tran'som grdlop le'gal velial hand'some brillad menial ■eomlnon hamlnock sal'ad morlal €usloni hiirock sealnan na'gal blos'som or'phau firelnan na'val dragoon tru'ant brake'man oVal ser'mon serv'ant barance SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 31 IV. Final unaccented a. Unaccented a, at the end of a word, has the sound of intermediate a, verging towards short u, as com'ma or com'mu. cun/nia al'ge bra pi az'za va nil'la e'la a're a CO ro'na guer il'la ex tra a re^ua ver'te bra fa ri'na \xi\k ci/po la man til'la lam'i na nil'ca op'e ra scin tiHa mem o ran'da so'i'a i de'a um brel'la a natl/e ma V. Sound of a in unaccented final syllables. In words like the following, a has the sound of short • as, -age:=ej, and -ate = et. coil /age mar'riage sav'age paFate dam'age Ciir'riage iig'age pfrate drain'age O inlle''age ag'ate frig'ate f] outrage post'age cli'mate ad vaa'tage leak^age tillage pri^^ate per ^ent'age VI. Unaccented a as an initial syllable. In the first syllable of words like the following, the vowel a, when unaccented, has nearly the sound of short a a little obscured, or of a as in ask, verging towards short 71 ; as a bout', a hove' ; or a bout', a bove'. Avoid the common error of giving a the long sound ; as a bove', ma chine' ; also that of short u, as ii bout', li bove'. In the dictionary this sound is urnnarked. a bove' a gain' a like' €a det' ga zette' a bout' a liirm' a mong' €a nal' ma (;hine' a biise' a las' a part' ■ea ress' ma rine' a cross' a live' a rl§e' €a nard' ra vine' a dillt' a lone'' a side' €a noe' ca reen' 32 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. viL Silent e and o. In the following words and some others, e and o are silent before n or I, thus — heaven = hevn, evil = evl. Lacon golden listen open seagon biitton garden leaven often sudden cotton gladden leaden person spoken crimgon glisten lengthen parson sloven deacon given liken poison shovel dam§on glutton lesson rea§on shrivel devil grovel lessen reckon snivel driven heathen mason raven smitten even heaven niiitton raisin siinken evil harden maiden ridden token ea§el hasten moisten rotten tea§el fallen happen mitten ravel weagel frozen hazel oven seven weaken frighten kitten ougel silken weapon VIIL Short i in unaccented final syllables. ag'ile far'ile san'guine mas'cu line doq'ile fer'tile siibVile fem'i nine des'tine frag'ile stcr'ile gen'u ine ducVile flcx'ile tex'tile her'o ine et/gine hos'tile vfrile pu'er lie ei-'mine mo'bile ver'sa tile ju've nile IX. Short i in unaccented initial syllables. di vide' di vest' di gress' di plo'ma di late' di vert' mi uute' di ges'tion di lute' di viilge' gi raffe' di vis'ion di rect' di verge' Qi giir' di la'tion di gest' di vorce' fi nance' di rec'tion di van' di vine' ti rade' bi tii'men SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 33 X. Sound of short i and y in unaccented syllables. In words like the following, there is a tendency to give short e, the sound of obscure c or a, and to pro- long final -ty into -te. ac tiv'i ty a gU'i ty de bil'i ty di vis i biH ty el i gi bil'i ty fu §i bil'i ty gul li bill ty in tel'li gi ble in corl'i gi ble in vin'ci ble il leg'i ble in fin'i ty re spon si bil'i ty tran quil'li ty pos si bill ty u til'i ty u na niml ty in com pat i bill ty XI. Sound of u in unaccented final syllables. In the pronunciation of words of two syllables ending in -ture, -dure, or -sure, there is a slight difference in good usage. By some, the word creature, for example, is pronounced as if spelled thus — creat'yer, verging tow- ards crea'cher ; by others it is pronounced thus — creat'yobr. crea'ture cullure frac'ture fulure nalure nurlure raplure scriplure caplure fea'ture geslure leclure paslure pic'ture striic'ture venlure fixlure lei'gnre poslure ver'dure vullure siilure veslure riip'ture xiL Sound of u in unaccented final syllables. In words of more than two syllables, the sound of -ure is made somewhat longer than in words of two syllables ; as furniture is pronounced furliit yoor. Sp'er ture lit'er a ture carl €a ture 6\er ture ten/per a ture jii'di ca ture lig'a ture mini a ture sig'na ture siglia ture ap'er ture cftrVa ture 34 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. XIIL The syllable -tude. ap'ti tude lon'gi tude rec'ti tude al'ti tude las^si tude sul'i tude at'ti tude miirti tude ser'vi tude XIV. Long unaccented. mo roc'co to bac'co ag'o ny po ta'to pro poi/tion op'po §ite pin'ioa pi a'no eVo quence XV, Miscellaneous Hints, 1. The article a is sounded in connection with the word that follows it; as, "a book" is sounded as one word of two syllables, thus — a-book'. Here the article has the sound of long a, obscured and cut off suddenly. It is not good usage to give it the sound of short u, thus — ii-book', or of ur-book^ 2. Before a word beginning with a consonant tlie article the, except when emphatic, is sounded as a syllable of the word which it precedes, as the-book', pronounced as a word of two syllables, accented on the last. In such cases the obscured e sound in the is really repre- sented by short i, rather than by short n; as, thi-book', thi-horse', thi-schooF. It is sometimes indicated thus — ■ th'-book', th'-horse^ 3. Before words beginning with a vowel, as the-air', the-ice', e in the has the long sound, less obscured and shortened than when the precedes a word beginning witli a consonant. The error in sounding the articles a and the frequently arises from attempts to give their phonic spelling inde])endent of their connection with the words that follow tliem. In order to sound the articles cor- rectly, notice how they are pronounced, by persons of good taste, in ordinary conversation. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 35 SECTION III. CONSONANT SOUNDS. I. Articulation. 1. Distinct articulation is essential to good reading and speaking. "The first step towards becoming a good elocutionist," says Comstock, "is a correct articulation. A public speaker, possessed of only a moderate voice, if he articulates correctly, will be better understood, and heard with greater pleasure, than one who vociferates without judgment. The voice of the latter may indeed extend to a considerable distance, but the sound is dis- sipated in confusion. Of the former voice not the smallest vibration is wasted ; every stroke is perceived at the utmost distance to which it reaches ; and hence it has often the appearance of penetrating even farther than one which is loud, but badly articulated." 2. " In just articulation," says Austin, " the words are not hurried over, nor precipitated syllable over syllable ; nor, as it were, melted together into a mass of confusion ; they are neitlier abridged, nor prolonged ; nor swallowed, nor forced, and, if I may so express myself, shot from the mouth ; they are not trailed nor drawled, nor let slip out cai'elessly, so as to drop unfinished. They are delivered out from the lips, as beautiful coins newly issued from the mint, deeply and accurately impressed, perfectly finished, neatly struck by the proper organs, distinct, sharp, in due succession, and of due weight." 3. The best way of training the organs of speech to good articulation is by means of forcible phonic spelling and by drill-exercises on the elementary sounds, partic- ularly on subvocals and aspirates. 4. "Articulate utterance," says Prof. Russell, "requires a constant exercise of discrimination of the mind, and of precision or accuracij in tlie movements of the organs 36 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. of speech. A correct articulation, however, is not be- labored or artificial in its character. It results from the intuitive and habitual action of a disciplined attention. It is easy, fluent, and natural; but, like the skillful execution of an accomplished musician, it gives forth every sound, even in the most rapid passages, with truth and correctness. 5. "A good enunciation gives to every vowel and consonant its just proportion and character; none being omitted, no one blending with another in such a manner as to produce confusion, and none so carelessly executed as to cause mistake in the hearer, by its resemblance to another. 6. " A correct enunciation is the fundamental quality of a distinct and impressive elocution. It is an attain- ment of great value, for the ordinary purposes of communication; but it becomes doubly important, in the act of reading or speaking in public, whether we advert to the larger space which must be traversed by tlie voice, or the greater moment of the topics of discourse which are usual on such occasions. 7. "The appropriate style of modern eloquence is that of intellectual, more than of impassioned, expression ; and enunciation being, of all the functions of the voice, that which is most important to the conveyance of thought and meaning, it justly requires, in the course of education, more attention and practice than any other branch of elocution." II. Classification of Elementary Sounds. The elementary sounds are classified as follows : 1. Vocals, or tonics. 2. Subvocals, or subtonics. 3. Aspirates, or atonies. Vocals, represented by vowels, are sounds consisting of pure tone only. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 37 Suhvocals, represented by consonants, are sounds that have tone, but are inferior to vocals in fuUness. A consonant can not be nayned without the aid of a vowel, as h is named in the alphabet, he. Hence the term consonant, sounded with. Aspirates, represented by consonants, are sounds with- out tone. Letters are characters to represent articulate sounds. III. Dl\critical Marks of Consonakts. \^As given in JVcbstcrs Dictionary.]^ 9 soft — gede, gent. € hard — -call, la-e. ch unmarked — ch urch. qh soft — ^haise, (jhute. €h hard — ehyle, -ehyme. g hard — ^guni, log. g soft— gam, gin. § soft — z — ha§, hi§. s sharp — (^ — sin, gas. th sliarp — thing, bath, fh fiat — fhine, smooth, ng unmarked — sing, ring. n — ink, link. X = ks — box, fox. ?f = gz — e^ist, e^alt. ph — f — phlox, sylph, qu rr kw — queen, queer. wh = hw — when, why. IV. Drill Lessons on Consonant Sounds. I. SUBVOCALS. In concert drill-exercises on the following table, observe the following directions : 1. Pronounce each word distinctly, and then give, forcibly, the phonic spelling. 2. Eepeat, forcibly, each subvocal and aspirate three times, thus — b, b, b; d, d, d, etc. 3. After concert drill, require each pupil, in turn, to give the sounds. b. — bib, babe, bee, ebb, mob, rob, sob, €ob. d. — did, dog, dead, odd, dread, died, said, bed. cr^tT ai~r (Ti'ucr u'pt ijTrl fftlls P't~y'('r\9. 38 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. J— joy- just, jog, gill, gem, gin, ginVrer. 1, — lull, loll, mill, bell, sale, boil, toil, soil. m. — man, maim, miim, dim, rum, some, n. — niin, none, noun, name, run, gun. r (rough). — rude, rule, room, rood, roll, roar, r (smooth). — or, ore, more, oar, year, deer. V. — valve, vale, vine, live, of, veer, vote. \v. — will, woe, we, wine, wet, wind, wood, y-— yes, yet, you, yam, yarn, yoke, yacht. z. — zone, ooze, lo§e, no§e, blaze, craze, zh. — azure, meagure, pleasure, treasure. fh. — thy, fhine, this, with, blithe, bathe. ng. — king, ring, rang, riing, sing, sang, siing. n. — ^ink, link, think, wmk, blink. 5 = gz. — e^ist, example, exhort, exhaust. n. ASPIRATES. f. — fife, if, fill, beef, biiff, off, laugh. h. — how, home, hill, had, here, hair, hail. k, €, -eh. — kill, kick, -eake, €6me, €hyle, €hyme. p. — pipe, ripe, piip, p8p, pip, peep. s. — sau(^e, gease, (^ite, gell, sense, (jents, t. — too, dot, tilt, trot, triist, twit, wit. sh, 9h. — shall, sham, rash, dash, (jhaise, (jhute. oh. — chin, chop, rich, ditch, church, birch. th. — thin, thick, pitli, teeth, truth, youth. x = ks. — box, fox, locks, vex, necks, tax, lax, wax. V. Miscellaneous Hints. 1. Do not be over-particular about a heavy articula- tion of the d in and. The d should be sounded, but not so painfully emphasized as to become an elocu- tionary affectation. 2. Th is vocal, as in thine, in the following plurals : bath§, lath§, "paths, motlj§, clotli§, oatli§, mouths, swathg, wreathg, booth§ ; and in blithe, lithe, with, and beneath. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 39 SECTION" IV. CLASSIFICATION OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS. I. Table of Elementary Sounds. I. VOCALS. a a-»''P n-a-me i.y Ml, h-y-mn a a-lm§, a-vt o-ld, n-o a a-11, l-aw o 6-n, 6-dd a a-t, a-ii 0, 00 m-o-ve, m-oo-n a a-ir, €-a-re u u-se, d-ue a a-sk, el-a-ss u u-p. s-u-n e e-ve, m-e u li-rge. b-u-rn e e-nd, P-OlT U, 00 f-u-U, w-oo-l e h-e-r, e-rr oi, oy oi-1, b-oy i. y i-ce, m-y ou, ow ou-t, ow-1 II. SUBVOCAiS. b b-i-b, b-a-be r r-oa-r, re-a-r d d-i-d, de-ad fh fh-Ine, wi-fh g-^-g. g-i-g V v-al-ve wa-ve J j-ain, g-em w w-ill, w-ell I 1-u-ll, be-ll y y-e«, y-et m m-ai-m, mi-ne z z-one, z-in€ n n-ii-u, ni-ne zh, z a-z^ure, sei'z-ure ng, n rl-nj^, ra-n-k III. ASPIRATES. f f-I-l'e, o-ff t t-en-t, t-ar-t h h-at, h-ill ch ch-iir-ch, cb-ain k k-m, bo6-k sh sh-ip, wi-sh P P-T-pe, p-ut th tln-ck, pii-th s s-ell, s-on-se wh wh-en, wh-ere 40 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. II. Vocals and Equivalents. ' {Arranged according to tiie nulural order of their formation by the orguns of speech.'] I. LONG. II. SHORT. e e-ve. m-e 1 1-n, i-t a a-le. a-ge e e-nd, m-e-n a ai-r, c-a-re a a-t, a-n a a-lm§, b-ci-lf a a-sk, p-a-ss u u-rge, c-ii-rl VL li-p, b-ii-d a a-H l-aw u-n, d-(j-g o o-ld, n-u U p-u-L, p-u-t m-o-ve, d-o COMPOUNDS AND DIPHTHONGS— LONG. u = 1 -1- 00. — u-se, in-u-te. I = ii -h e. — i-ce, m-i-ne. ou = ii + 00. — ou-t, tb-ou. oi = a + e. — oi-1, b-oy. III. SUBVOCALS AND ASPIKATES. {Arranged according to tlie natural order of their formation by the 07'gans of speech. ] I. COGNATES. SUBVOCALS. ASPIRATES. b b-i-b, b-a-be P p-I-pe, p-o-p w w-m, w-oo wli wb-en, M'b-y V . v-a-lve, w-il-ve f f-I-fe, f-eo-ff fb fli-ine, Wl-fll tb tb-ick, ino-tb z z-one. sl-ze s s-ay, s-ee d d-i-d, d-rea-d ■ t t-iT'ii-t, t-ro-t j j-oy. j-ail cb cb-iir-cb, cb-Inie zb a-z-iire sb sb-all, sb-ow y y-es, y-eii b b-o\v, b-ome ft g-^-g Ic ■e-a-ke, €-o-ke SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 41 II. SUBTONICS WITHOUT COGNATES. lu. — m-ai-m, a-m. n. — n-u-D, n-I-ue. l._l.u-ll oi-L r i^rougli). — r-ule, r-oom. r {smooth). — u-re, mo-re. ng. — Si-ng, ri-ng. IV. TxVBLE OF Consonant Sounds. [Classijicd according to their formation by the organs of speech.] In order to secure correct and forcible articulation, it may be desirable to call tbe attention of pupils to tbe position of tbe organs of speech in making tbe conso- nant sounds. Teacbers can do tbis without any detailed instructions in print. Lip Sounds. [Labials.] b p ra w wh b-a-be, p-i-pe m-ai-m, w-ay wb-y, wb-en Lips and Teeth. [Labio-Dentals.] f V f-i-fe, f-eo-ff v-ine, e-ve Tongue and Teeth. [Linguo-Deutals. ] d t fh tb j cb s sli z zb d-i-d, t-eu-t fb-is, th-ink j-oy, cb-ur-ch s-un, sb-un z-one, a-z'ure Tongue and Palate. [Linguo-PalataLs. j g 1^- 1 r y g-ood, boo-k l-u-U, r-oa-r y-et, y-es Nasal Passages. n n-o-ne, n-i-ne si-ng, ri-ng Glottis. b h-at, h-ow 42 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. V. Phonic Dkill. — Subvocals and Aspirates- b. — babe, bribe, rib, bid, rube, bird, -eurb. q, s. — qeut, sin^e, on^e, ige, face, race, sense. ch. — church, birch, liiuch, cheege, chime. d. — did, dead, ride, diQ.e, death, thread, dried, f, gh. — fine, off, fife, fear, deaf, foot, liiugh. g.— gag, gig, game, gills, rag, good, gauge. h. — home, how, who, hair, hate, hill, hi§. J. g-— joy. J^^ist, jet, age, page, gem, gill. k, -e. — kill, kite, look, -eame, -eould, -eake, erowd. ■eh. — a-ehe, -ehord, ehyme, ehyle, €hoir, -ehurus. 1. — look, lull, ball, boil, lad, well, tall, pale. m. — make, room, main, moon, niimb, maim, n. — noun, neat, ten, nine, niin, pin, none, ng. — sing, ring, thing, bank, rank, thank, p. — pipe, €up, €ape, hope, ripe, drop, paid. r. — roar, rear, fire, floor, door, store, more, s, q. — sauqe, sinqe, saw, iqe, intense, source, sh, cli. — shine, shall, (jhaige, wish, bush, (jhute. t. — tent, dot, tell, write, time, trot, threat, th. — thick, death, thin, length, width, throat, fh. — this, fhege, fhoge, then, that, with, {heir. V. — vine, eve, vote, move, veer, nerve, vest. "W. — wind, wet, woe, wait, wear, wi§e, wood, wh. — when, where, why, what, wheat, wheel. x = ks. — ox, box, lucks, ax, tax, lacks, vex, fox. 3f = gz. — ej^act, ei^ist, example, e^liaust, e^ert. y.— yes, yet, yell, year, young, youth, truth. z. — zone, buzz, breeze, ooze, lo§e, i§, zine. zh. — azure, pleasure, measure, treasure. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 43 YL Articulation Drill. First, pronounce eacli word very distinctly and forcil)ly; tlien give the phonic spelling, and re-pronounce the word. rb. — orb, herb, verb, €iirb, biirb, garb. rd. — hiird, lard, bard, eard, board, hoard, rk. — ark, bark, j)ark, hark, mark, lark, spr. — spring, sprang, sprung, spray, sprite, rt. — art, heart, piirt, cart, diirt, start, str. — string, strung, straight, strength, stray. sts. — masts, fasts, fists, nests, vests, pests, sks. — asks, tasks, basks, casks, masks, skt. — asked, tasked, basked, masked, rasped. sps. — gasps, clasps, rasps, hasps, grasps, spt. — gasped, clasped, rasped, hasped, grasped, fh. — this, that, fhe§e, those, with, bathe. th. — three, throat, thrill, thick, thin, bath. wh. — when, where, why, wliat, which, wheat, dn. — laden, burden, harden, sadden, gladden. kn. — hearken, liken, weaken, spoken, broken, pn. — open, weapon, happen, ripen, deepen. vn. — given, seven, oven, heaven, leaven, even, sn. — glisten, hasten, fasten, lesson, mason. YII. Articulation Drill. 1. Eound the rough rock the ragged rascal ran. 2. Shoes and socks shock Susan. (Repeat.) 3. Tlie scene was truly rural. (Repeat.) 4. She uttered a sharp, shrill shriek. (Repeat.) 5. The difficulties were formidable, inexplicable, and irremediable. 6. Amidst the mists and coldest frosts. With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts, He thrusts his fists against the posts, And still insists he sees the "hosts. 44 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 7. Shrewd Simon Short sewed shoes. Seventeen sum- mers' speeding storms, succeeding sunshine, successively saw Simon's small, shabby shop standing staunch, saw Simon's self-same sign still swinging, silently specifying: " Simon Short, Smith tield's sole surviving shoemaker. Shoes sewed, soled superfinely." Simon's sj)ry, sedulous spouse, Sally Short, sewed shirts, stitched sheets, stufted sofas. Simon's six stout, sturdy sons — Seth, Samuel, Stephen, Saul, Shadrach, Silas — sold sundries. Sober Seth sold sugar, starch, spices; simple Sam sold saddles, stirrups, screws ; sagacious Stephen sold silks, satins, shawls ; skeptical Saul sold silver salvers, silver spoons ; selfish Shadrach sold shoe-strings, soaps, saws, skates; slack Silas sold Sally Short's stuffed sofas. 8. Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle-sifter, in sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb ; now, if Tlieophilus Thistle, the successful thistle-sifter, in sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through tlie thick of his thumb, see that thou, in sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust not three thousand thistles througli the thick of thy thumb. Success to the successful thistle-sifter. 9. Of all the saws T ever saw saw, I never saw a saw saw as this saw saws. 10. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers ; a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where 's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ? 11. When a twister twisting, would twist him a twist. For twisting a twist three times he will twist ; But if one of the twists untwist from the twist, The twist untwisting, untwists the twist. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 45 SECTIOX V. ORTHOEPY. Good Usage. The standard of correct pronunciation is gooil usage. Good usage implies tlie pronunciation of the educated and intellectual classes of society. The standard of good usage is found in the dictionaries of a language. In the United States, the standard dic- tionaries are Webster's and Worcester's. The standard of pronunciation is never absolutely un- deviating. Custom, from time to time, changes the pro- nunciation of words ; but the number of these changes is not large. Whenever general TOod usage changes the pronunciation or the spelling of a word, this change soon finds its way into a new edition of the dictionary. The dictionary, then, remains the standard of good usage. There are a few hundred words in our language that have two authorized pronunciations, either of which is allowable. Affect A.TIOXS. All affectations in pronunciation should be carefully avoided. The affectation of el^ther and nel'ther, for either and neither, is a case in point. Avoid in'quiry for in quir'y. There is no better test of culture, scholarship, and refinement, than a correct pronunciation. On this point, Prof. William Eussell says: "Individual opinion, wlien it is at variance with this important and useful principle of accommodation, gives rise to eccen- tricities, whicli neither the authority of profound learn- ing, nor that of strict accuracy and system, can redeem from the charge of pedantry. " It is a matter of great importance to recognize the rule of authorized custom, and neither yield to the in- fluence of those errors wJiich, through inadvertency, will creep into occasional or local use ; nor, on the other 46 SCHOOL elocution". hand, be induced to follow innovations or changes adopted without sufficient sanction. A cultivated taste is always perceptible in pronunciation, as in every other expression of mind ; and errors in pronouncing are unavoidably associated with a deficiency in the rudiments of a good education." Provincialisms. Provincialisms, or the peculiar pro- nunciation prevailing in certain localities or sections of our country, must be studiously corrected and avoided. It is to this class of errors that teachers must carefully direct their attention. The force of habit is so strong that pupils continue to mispronounce words long after they know the pronunciation to be incorrect. Provincialisms most commonly consist of some varia- tion or perversion of vowel sounds : as half for half, calf for calf, laugh for laugh, etc. ; of tew for to, trew for true, dew for do, yew for you ; of grass for grass, ask for ask, last for last, etc. ; of dawg or dorg for dog ; of git for get, gut for got, etc. ; of toon for tune, noo for new, dooty for dhty, etc. ; of op for iip, onder for iinder ; of skewl for scliool, rewl for rule. Another class of tliese errors consists in misplacing the accent of words ; as, fde a for i de'a, ad'ult for a dult', re^cess for re cess', eon vex' for eonVex, ex tant' for ex'tant, in ter est'ing for in'ter est ing, irius trate for il liis'trate, ro'bust for ro bust', ti'rade for ti rade', ve he'ment for ve'he ment. Tn this connection, the following lines from Oliver Wendell Holmes convey a valuable lesson : 1. A few brief stanzas may be well employed To speak of errors we can all avoid. Learning condemns beyond the reach of hope The careless churl that speaks of soap for soap : Her edict exiles from her fair abode The clownish voice that utters road for r5ad, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 47 Less stern to him who calls his coat a coat, And steers his boat believing it a boat. She pardoned one, our classic city's boast, Who said, at Cambridge, most instead of most ; But knit her brows, and stamped her angry foot. To hear a teacher call a root a root. Once more : speak clearly, if you speak at all ; Carve every word before you let it fall ; Do n't, like a lecturer or dramatic star. Try over hard to roll the British r; Do put your accents in the proper spot ; Do n't— let me beg you— do n't say "How / " for " What .? " And, when you stick on conversation's burrs, Do n't strew the pathway with those dreadful urs. I. Words Often Mispronounced. \_By misplacing the acccnt.'\ The only variations from "Webster's Dictionary," in the following lists, include a few words in relation to which it may be said that good usage is in advance of the dictionary. First, require pupils to pronounce the following words in concert; tlien require each pupil, singly, in turn, to pronounce five or more words. ab d(ymen ally; €a nine' a-e €lf mat ed a're a ca bal' fir'mis ti^e au re'o la €ay enne' ii/bi ter an tip'o de§ ■eon tour' rd/ject al bu'men €on'vex ad 'verse ba salt' cor'net ad dress' bur lesque €on'strue a dept' bi tu'men ■eun'teiits a diilt' ben'zlne eom'plex 48 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. €on fi dant' e^'em pla ry leg'is la tor €om'bat ant ex po'nent ly (^e'um €om'pro mi§e ex pu/gate leth ar'gic €om'raun ist ex ploit' lith og'ra pher €on'tro vert fi nance' mon soon' ■eum'par a ble fron'tier mus tache' eou'ver sant for'micl a ble mag a zine' ■eon'tu me ly frag'nient a ry mis cou'strue com'plai §ance gran'ary mu §e'um ■eou trib'ute gon'do la met'al lur gy €og no'men glac^'i er me'di o ere €on fis'-eate guar'di an ob'li ga to ry eon do^'lence gri mace' or'tbo e py chas'ti§e nient gla di'o lus ob'se quie§ (jiv il 1 za'tiou har'ass ob'so lete (jhiv'al rlc ho ri'zon on'er ous €oni man dant' hy'gi ene or'nate €om pen'sate hy me ne'al 5'vert con gen'trate 1 de'a oc cillt' ■eoy o'te il liis'trate op po'nent defi Qit il liis'trat ed o'a sis dev'as tate in quir'y pro lix' doFor ous in'grate pre text' dyn'am ite in'ter stice pre tense' de mon'strate in'ter est ing pur loin' de co'rous in'ter est ed plae'ard dep ri va'tion im'pi ous pre (^ed'ence de§'ul to ry in com'par a Lie pre^'e dent («.) di plo'ma (^'y in dis'pu ta ble pre ced'ent (adj.) dis course' in ex'pli ca ble prom e niide' dis card' ir rep'ar a l)le py rrim'i dal ex'tant ir ref'ra ga ble qufnlne di'verse ir rov'o ca ble quan'da r^ ex'or QT§e lani'en ta ble re (;ess' en'vel ope (?i.) leg'is la ture re flex' ex'qui §ite leg'is la tive re course' SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 49 re sour(je' re trib'u tive tl rade' re cluse' strat'eg ic te leg'ra phy re search' su i (^fdal to pog'ra phy ro bust' sys tera'ic ve'he ment ro raance' sub sld'euce va ga'ry rou tine' sys'to le va'ri o loid re-e'og iiize so ii5'roas va'ri e gat ed II. Drill on Accent. I shall absent' myself to-day and shall be ab'sent to- morrow. Accent' the word with the proper ac'cent. Affix' an affix properly. I shall comment' on your com'ment. We confine' the animal and erect his con'fines. We conjure' him not to con'jure. He consorts' with his con'sort. I contest' and so enter the con'test. We contract' and make a con'tract. We contrast' and produce the con'trast. We convert' and gain con'verts. We convict' and confine con'victs. We desert' into tlie des'ert without our dessert'. We entrance' liim at the en'trance. We escort' with an es'cort. I essay' to produce an es'say. We export' our ex'ports. We extract' an ex'tract. We frequent' the hall and make fre'quent calls. Tlicy misconduct' and are punished for miscon'duct. We object' to your ob'ject. Prefix' the pre'fix. We prelude' with the proper prel'ude. We premise' and give the base of the prem'ise. I present' the letter and make a pres'ent. 4 50 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, The trans'ports will transport' the troops. "We progress' and make rapid prog'ress. We protest' and file our pro'test. We record' our names in the rec'ord. We refuse' to accept such refuse. We reprint' and produce a re'print. We subject' him and make him a sub'ject. We survey' and make a sur'vey. III. Monosyllables Often Mispkonounced. Bjj giving a vowel sound incorrectly. ant chaff gas more rule tf|lk aunt chant get mourn ru§e true aft chair haunt none rinse to are €atch haunch niide root toast ask daunt hearth ore salve tour bade draught half oar staunch tiibe biilm draft halves parse sauce tart bath dance hasp path since tiine bask d6e§ home piilm source toad brass deaf jaunt pass scarce two basque '-on jowl past shaft vaunt blast ere joist pant staff vast bomb e'er keg prance slant want been fast laugh pork shoe walk bone flask liinnch porch sloth wan borne flaunt last pour smoke M'aft bourn gaunt lance prune spoke wand eask giipe lore psiilm stone ^^■ere €ast gdsp law raft soon wound €alf grasp lieu rasp spoon wo n't ■el ass glance mass roof tiiunt wont chance grant mast route task yet €raft grass maul rude trance yes €lasp glass mask rood truth zouave: SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 51 after ar'id aii'swer a las a mass a vast ad vance a slant a gainst ap par'ent ap pa ra'tus ad yan'tage bas'ket bar'rel bon'net bo a/ bast bay'ou •ea'ret €ar'rof ea/at €ask'et ■eii/ry €uffee ^oFumn char'y chast'en €ay enne' eom'mand' com mand^ment Q^'n'o sure daunt'less dra'ma du'ty doc^ile IV. Words Often Mispronounced By giving a voiocl sound incorrectly. di verge' di vest' diVerse di vorce' di rect' di late' di gest' di viilge' dis'trict di rect'ion di gest'ion di version dom'i qile dyn'a mite en'gine ep'o-eh ei'ther e'dict en gross' ex t61' en chant e'go tism fau'^et fast'en fu'tile i'lil'some fet'id fc'brile forg'er fi'brine fore'head fur'row for bade' fiil'mi nate fi nale gen'u ine gla'mour gan'der giiunt'let gran'a ry gua'va guii'no hus'tile hov'er hiir'ry hand'some haunt'ed hein'ous her'o iue I'dyl i tal'ics is'o late im pla'ca ble 1 so tber'raal jaun'dice joc'und jo €5se^ jii'ven lie ju'gu lar kettle lla'ma laun'dry ll'lac li'en lei'§ure leath'er lar'ynx 52 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. laugh'ter lii'va leaver li'chea liveOong nia'trou niar'iy may'or mon'ad niet'ric meag'ure mas'ter inas''tiff luat^ter mo'bile mar'i time mas^cu^line niu ge'um mau so le'nm mer'can tile DiVked nei'ther ua/row noth'ing o'ral only on'er ous o bes'i ty o'ro tund ob lique' j)a'tron pat'ron age pass'a ble pas'sage pass'port pus'sive pa/ent pal'lrey prai'rie pas'tor pas'ture pas' time pla'za plat'ter plas'ter pu'pil por'ter por'tion po/trait procj'ess prod'ucfc prod'uce (n.) plion'ic prel'ate preface prn'dent pa'tri ot pa tri ot^'ic pa'tri ot ism pre§'en ta tion pi a'no pi a'uist pii'is sance piitl/vvay pa'tri areh pat'ron Tze ped'a go gy plat'i num pleag'ure pleth'o ric pur tray' ra'tioQ m'by ru'mor rep'tile ru'in la'tion al rail'le ry ra'ti ret'ro spect ra'dix rath'er rii'ral rap'me saun'ter sau'cer St al' wart siip'ple sii'et suav'i ty squT/rel slan'der syn'od syr'up se'nile stir'rup squal'or tru'ant tel'i'et tl'ny tu'tor tri'o to ma'to tii'ber 5se tap'est ry trib'urie tas'sel was'sail SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 63 V. Pronuncla-tion and Spelling. Some of the following words from the French are fully Anglicized ; others, partly so ; while some retain the French pronunciation. ■eou'pon gri mace'' cogn'ac (eon'yac) fra'cas gui pure' de'pot (de'po) preg'tige mo riile' mem'oir (mom'wor) purlieu ou tre' cor'tege (eor'tazh) trufile pe lisse' bou q^uet' (boo ka') bla §e' phy sique' me lee' (ma la') de§ gert' rou tine' me lauge' (ma longz') de tou/ rou lette' quad rille' (ea dril') e meute souve nir' re gime' (ra zheem') fa q-ade Tou e' vign ette' (vin yet') f 1 nesse' ta bleau' bad'i nage (bad'i niizh) fu'gi lier trous seau' am a teur' (am a toor') VI. Proper Names Often Mispronounced. Agassiz (ag'a se ) Froude (frood) Arab (a/ab) Goethe (giii'' te) Aryan (ii'ry an) Gratiano (grii she a'no) Asia (a'she a) Guyot (ge'o) Avon (aS'On) Guise (gwez) Beatrice (be'a ti -ice) Heine (hi'ne) Berlin (ber'lin) Hemans (hem'ans) Bin gen (bing'en ) Iowa (I'o wa) Calliope (cal li'o pe) Caucasian (€aw €a'shun) Cliaron (eha'ron) Cheops (ehe'ops) Concord (eong'^urd) Daniel (dan'yel) El Dorado (el do rii'do) European (eu ro pe'an) Faneuil Hall (fan'el) Ixion (ix I'on) Khedive (ka deve') Lewes (lew'is) Milan (miran) Oberon (ob'e ron) Orion (o ri'on) Orpheus (or'fus) Portia (por'shi a) Persia (per'shi a) 54 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. VII. "Words of Difficult Exuxciation. Divide into syllables, and mark the abominably assassination anthropophagi differentiation dicotyledonous hypochondriacal inexplicable intolerable impracticable indisputable incorriu'ible inviolably insuperable indissolubly infinitesimal indefatigable irremediable lugubrious meteorological monocotyledonous numismatics particularly accented syllables. peculiarly peculiarity perpendicularly ratiocination tergiversation unintelligible imconformability uninhabitable unliospitable valetudinarian viviparous YIII. MiSCELLAXEOUS WoRDS. ex cur'sion (ex -eur'shun) hom'age (h sounded) hum'ble (Ji sounded) hon''or {h silent) hon^est {h silent) hii'mor (Ji silent) al''mond {I silent) often (ofn) soften (sofn) this'tle (this'sle) whis'tle (wliis'sle) (jeftain (ger'ten) chas'ten (chas'n) lifhe {th vocal) blithe {th vocal) bafh§ (th vocal) oaths (th vocal) par quet' (par ka') pref ty (prit'ty) quay (ke) span^iel (span'yel) suVtile (siib'tile) sub'tle (siit'tle) tor''toise (to/tis) truths (th aspirate) vase (vaqe) youths (th aspirate) kept (t sounded) slept (t sounded) crept (t sounded) PART II. PART II. PRINCIPLES IN ELOCUTION. CHAPTER I. EMPHASIS, PAUSES, AND INFLECTIONS. SECTIOX I. EMPHASIS. I. Introductory, 1. Emphasis, as the term is used in its restricted sig- nification, is the special force or energy of voice ap])lied to words in order to give prominence to leading ideas. 2. In its widest signification, however, emphasis is used to include any means of distinguishing words, phrases, or clauses, whether by means of force, or inflec- tion, or stres.s, or quantity, or pauses. 3. A word may be made emphatic by an intense whisper ; by a strong rising, falling, or circumflex slide ; by prolonging vowel or liquid sounds ; or by rhetorical pauses. 4. As commonly used, however, emphasis relates to the degree or intensity o^ force. But the stronger the emphatic force, the longer are the slides, and the more (57) 58 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. prolonged the vouicl and the liquid sounds. It may here be remarked that the liquid sounds capable of being prolonged in emphasis are /, m, n, and r. The short vowel sounds and the consonant sounds, with the ex- ception of /, m, n, r, cannot be prolonged in emphasis. 5. " Every sentence," says Prof. William Russell, " con- tains one or more words which are prominent, and peculiaidy important, in the expression of meaning. These words are marked with a distinctive inflection ; those, in particular, which illustrate the reading of strong emotion, or of antithesis. 6. " The words which are pronounced with peculiar inflection, are uttered with more force than the other words in the same sentences. This special force is what is called cmjyJinsis. Its use is to impress more strik- ingly on the mind of the hearer the thought, or portion of thought, embodied in the particular word or phrase on which it is laid. 7. " It gives additional energy to important points in expression, by causing sounds which are peculiarly significant, to strike the ear with an appropriate and distinguisliing force. It po.ssesses, in regard to the sense of hearing, a similar advantage to tliat of 'relief,' or prominence to the eye, in a well-executed picture, in which the figures seem to stand out from the canvas. 8. " Emphasis, then, being tlie manner of pronouncing the most significant words, its oflice is of the utmost importance to an intelligible and impressive utterance. It is the manner of uttering empliatic words wliich decides the meaning of every sentence tliat is read or spoken. 9. " A true ompliasis conveys a sentiment clearly and forcibly to tlie miud, and keeps tlie attention of an audience in active sympatliy with the thoughts of the s])eaker ; it gives full value and effect to all that he utters, and secures a lasting iujpression on the memory." SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 59 II. Faults in Emphasis. In animated conversation, most persons emphasize correctly because they know clearly what they wish to express ; but, in reading the long and involved sentences of literary composition, the faults of untrained readers are numerous. 1. Sometimes the emphasis is misplaced because the reader does not clearly comprehend the sense of what is read. 2. Sometimes the emphasis is applied at random, with- out reference to prominent ideas. 3. Sometimes the untrained reader reads in a dull, monotonous tone, without any empliasis wdiatever. 4. Xot unfrequently the pupil overdoes the emphasis, and reads in a jerky, dogmatic manner. 5. There is often a tendency to a regular recurrence of emphasis, combined with the falling inflection, on random words, particularly at the end of every line of poetry, or of every alternate line, or at the end of every pi 1 rase or clause. III. GiENERAL Principles of Emphasis. 1. "Words or groups of words that express leading ideas are cviphatie ; those that express wliat is compar- atively unimportant, or that merely repeat what has been previously stated, are unemphatic. 2. Words expressing contrast of ideas are eviphatic. 3. The subject and predicate of a sentence are, in general, emphatic. 4. Articles, pronouns, and connectives are, in general, unemphatic, though any part of speech may sometimes become emphatic. 5. The emphatic words of a sentence are generally the words most strongly marked by the rising, falling, or circumflex inflection. 60 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. IV. Distinction of Eiviphasis. ■ Emphasis may be divided into two kinds, antithetic or relative emphasis, and absolute emphasis. Antithetic emphasis is applied to words that indicate contrast of ideas : Absolute emphasis is used to sliow the importance of a single word or to express feeling, emotion, or passion. Tlie degree of emphasis to be applied to words may be considered as slight, moderate, or strong. V. ExA]\iPLEs of Antithetic Emphasis. 1. He is not a friend but an enemy. 2. HI raised a mdrtcd to the skies. She drew an angel dawn. 3. To be or not to be — that is the question. 4. I come to burg Cicsar, not to ^jraisc him. 5. As for me, give me liberty or give me death. 6. You cannot d6 wrong without suffering wrong. 7. He that cannot bear a jest should not make one. 8. I said my father, not my mother. 9. Talent is ^9o76'cr ; tact is slMl. 10. After the snoio, the emerald Ihaves, After the harvest, golden sheaves. 11. He spoke for education, not agelinst it. 12. The clerk, in letting Scrooge's nephew 6ut, had let two other people \n. i;'). Put not your trust in money, but put your money in tr'^jst. 14. The ndhlest mind the best contentment has. 15. Be thou familiar, but by no means viilgar. 16. Give every man thine ear, but few thy vdice. 17. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 61 18. COMPENSATION. Polarity, or ddion and reaction, we meet in every part of nhtiLvc — in darkness and light ; in Mat and cold; in the ebb and flbio of waters ; in male and female ; in the inspiration and expiration of p^lci^^ts and animals ; in the equation of qudntiti/ and quality in the fluids of the animal &(V?// ; in the systole and dictstole of the /tea?'^ ; in the unduhitions oi fli'dds and of sbimd ; in the a'7i- trifuyal and centripetal gravity ; in electricity, galvanism,, and chemical affinity. Superinduce magnetism at o?ic end of a needle, the opposite magnetism takes place at the btlier end. If the south attracts, the north repels. To empty here, you must condense there. An inevitable dualism bisects ndturc, so that each thing is a half and suggests another thing to make it whole; as, spirit, mdt- ter ; man, wbman ; odd, even; subjective, bbjcctivc ; in, but; ivpper, under; mdtion, rest; yea, nhy. All things are dbuble, 6ne against Another — tit for tcit ; an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tboth ; blood for blbod ; measure for measure ; love for Z^-yc. 6^tyc and it shall be given you. He that wdtereth shall be watered him- self What will you have ? quoth G(')d ; pdy for it and take it. Nothing venture, notliing have. Thou shalt be paid exactly for what thou hast dbnc, no more, no Zes.s. Who doth not w6rk shall not eat. emerson. VI. Examples of Absolute Emphasis. Absolute emphasis is applied to words according to their importance in the sentence, or according to the degree of emotion or passion to be expressed. When words are repeated for the purpose of intensifying emotion, each successive repetition is more forcibly emphasized. 1. It was a turkey ! He never could have stood u])()n his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of s^aling-wnx. 62 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 2. What is it that gentlemen wish ? What would they liavc ? 3. " Revenge ! revenge ! " the Saxons cried. 4. Then rose the terrible cry of fire ! fire ! fire ! 5. We must fight ; I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! 6. " To arms ! to arms ! to arms ! " they cry. 7. Happy, lidpiyy, hdfiiy pair! None but the hrdve, None hut the hrdve, None hut the hrdve deserves the fair! 8. CHRISTMAS CAROL. "Why, bless my soul!" cried Fred, "who's thatV "It's/. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred ?" Let him in I It is a mercy he did n't shake his arm off. He was at home in five minutes. Nothing could be heartier. His niece looked just the same. So did Topper, when he came. So did the plump sister, when sM came. So did every one when they came. Wonder- ful party, ivonderfal games, wonderful unanimity, won- derful happiness ! Dickens, 9. grandmother's story of buxker-hill battle. Then we cried, "The troops are routed! they are heat — it can't be doubted ! God he thanked, the fight is over ! " — Ah ! the grim old soldier's smile ! Tell us, TELL us why you huh so ? (we could hardly speak we shook so.) "Are they heatcn? are they bdaten? are they beaten?" —"Wait awhile." ******* And we shout, "At last they're done for; it's the barges they have ?'U7i for: They are beaten ! ht^afen ! beaten' ! and the battle 's over now." holmes. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 63 10. INDEPENDENCE. But whatever may be our fate, be assured — he assured that this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost hlbod ; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for hbtli. Through the thick gloom of the 2^^^^'^C'iU I see the brightness of the future, as the sfu,n in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an im- mortal day. "When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with honfires, and illuminations. On its annual return, they will shed tears, chpious, giishing tfears ; not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. My judgment apprdves this measure, and my whole hem't is in it. All that I have, and all that I dm, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I began, that, live or die, survive or phrish, I am for the declaration. Webster. 11. UNCLE TOBY. "In a fortnight or three weeks," said my uncle Toby, smiling, " he might march." " He will never march, an' please your honor, in this world," said the corporal. "He nrtll m.arch," said my uncle Toby, rising up with one shoe off. "An' please your honor," said the corporal, "he will never march but to his grave." "He slidll march," cried my uncle Toby; "he shall march to his regiMent." "He can not stand it," said the corporal. "He shall be suppdrfed," said my uncle Toby. "Ah, well-a-day, do what we can for him," said Trim, main- taining his point, " the poor soul will die." " He shall not," shouted my uncle Toby, with an oath. The Accus- ing Spirit which flew up to heaven's chancery, blushed as he gave it in, and the Recording Angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever. «...„... 64 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. SECTIOX II. PAUSES. 1. Tlie pauses made in reading or speaking may be classed as graniuiatical, rhetorical, and emphatic or emo- tional. 2. Grammatical pauses are those indicated by punctua- tion ; rhetorical pauses are those required by the structure of the sentence, or by emphasis ; and emphatic pauses, those expressive of deep feeling or passion. 3. These pauses may be relatively long, moderate, or short, according to the general style of expression ap- propriate to what is read ; but witliout due attention to them, it is impossible properly to emphasize prose, or to express the melody of verse. 4 Concerning pauses. Prof. Eussell says : " The ces- sation of the voice at proper intervals has the same effect, nearly, on clauses and sentences with that of articulation on syllables, or of prouunciation on words : it serv'es to gather up the sounds of the voice into rela- tive portions, and aids in preserving clearness and dis- tinction among them. But what those elementary and organic efforts do for syllables and words — the minor portions of speech — pausing does for clauses, sentences, and entire discourses. 5. "The great use of pauses is to divide thought into its constituent portions, and to leave the mind oppor- tunity of contemplating each distinctly, so as fully to comprehend and appreciate it, and, at the same time, to perceive its relation to tlie whole. Appropriate pauses are of vast importance, therefore, to a correct and im- pressive style of delivery ; and without them, indeed, sj^eech cannot be intelligible. G. "Pausing has, furtlier, a distinct office to perform in regard to the effect of feeling as conveyed by utter- ance. Awe and solemnity are expressed by long cessa- SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 65 tions of the voice ; and grief, when it is deep, and at the same time suppressed, requires frequent and long pauses. 7. " The general effect, however, of correct and well- timed pauses, is what most requires attention. Tlie manner of a good reader or speaker is distinguished, in this particular, by clearness, impressiveness, and dignity arising from the full conception of meaning, and the deliberate and distinct expression of it ; while nothing is so indicative of want of attention and of self-com- mand, and nothing is so unliapjjy in its effect, as haste and confusion." I. Grammatical Pauses. Grammatical pauses, or tlie pauses indicated by punc- tuation, have no fixed lengtli. They depend, to some extent, on the character of the piece to be read. When the general movement or rate is slow, the pauses are relatively long ; when the movement is fast, the pauses are relatively sliort. The general principles that govern grammatical pauses may be stated as follows : 1. In general, a slight pause at a comma ; a longer pause at a semicolon ; and a still longer paitse at a period. 2. A full pause, longer than at a period, is required at the end of a paragraph of ^;ro.sc, or of a stanza of poetry. This pause is made to enable the hearer to note the subdivisions of a piece, and to afford the reader time for a slight rest. II. PiHETORICAL PAUSES. 1. Tihctoricxd pauses are pauses not indicated by punc- tuation, but which are made in reading, generally for the purpose of emphasis or expression. Attention to these pauses is absolutely essential to good reading. 2. The general tendency of pupils to read too fast is 66 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. owiug, in no small degree, to a neglect of the pauses necessary to etl'ective utterance. Both the hearer and the reader must have time to think. These pauses, too, afford the reader time to renew tlie breath, and thus keep the lungs well supplied with air. 3. A continuous streaui of rapid utterance soon wea- ries the hearer, because the speaker neither takes time to think, nor allows his hearers time to do so. The trained extemporaneous speaker talks with deliberation, and the trained reader reads in the same manner. 4. We read words by groups, not by disconnected units. The beginner laboriously calls out each word of a sentence independently, with a pause after each word, thus: " The I black | cat | caught | a | big | rat [ in | the [ barn." A good reader will read this sentence in groups, as indicated by the hyphenized words, thus : " The-black-cat [ caught-a-big-rat [ in-the-barn," 5. Pupils, whose attention is directed to the manner in which they run words together in speaking and i-ead- iug, with pauses between the groups, will notice that adjectives are grouped with the norms which they mod- ify; adverbs, witli verbs or adjectives or other adverbs; prepositions, with their objects ; pronouns, with the words they modify ; and auxiliaries, with their principal verbs — in other Avords, that we speak in phrases and clauses. 6. They will notice, further, that when the subject of a verb is a noun, or when it is modified by a phrase or a clause, there is a rhetorical pause between the sub- ject and tlie predicate. A COMMON FAULT. 7. "The common fault in regard to pauses," says Prof. Piussell, " is tliat they are made too short for clear and distinct expression. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 67 8. "Feeble utterance and defective emphasis, along with rapid articulation, usually combine to produce tliis fault in young readers and speakers. For, whatever force of utterance or energy of emphasis, or whatever rate of articulation we accustom ourselves to use, our pauses arc always in proportion to it. 9. " Undue brevity in pausing has a like bad effect with too rapid articulation : it produces obscurity and confusion in speech, or imparts sentiment in a manner which is deficient and unimpressive, and prevents the proper effect both of thought and language. 10. " To be fully convinced how much of the clear- ness, force, and dignity of style depends on due pauses, we have only to revert for a moment to the effect of rapid reading on a passage of Milton, and observe what an utter subversion of the characteristic sublimity of the author seems to take place. This instance is, no doubt, a strong and peculiar one. But a similar result, though less striking, may be traced in the hurried reading of any piece of composition characterized by force of thought or dignity of expression, 11. " When habitual rapidity of voice, and omission of pauses, are difficult to correct, the learner may be required to accom'pany the teachers voice in the practice of sentences. This simultaneous reading, if sufficiently long continued, will probably prove effectual for the cure of habitual faults. A second stage of progress may be entered on, when the learner's improvement will warrant it ; and he may be permitted to read after the teacher. 12. "Pupils who possess an ear for music, may be taught to observe that tliere is in reading and speaking a 'time,' as distinct and perceptible, and as important, as in singing, or in performing on any instrument ; and that pauses are uniformly measured with reference to this time." 68 SCHOOL ELOCUTION DIULL F.XEHCISES. 13. The careful study of a few selections for the pur- pose of marking pauses, emphasis, and inllection, is also an excellent exercise in parsing and analysis. This method is a slow one, but it will lead to thoughtful, careful, and expressive reading. 14. For the purpose of aiding pupils to gain a clear comprehension of this subject, general principles are applied under a number of definite rules, which are illustrated by copious examples. The value of thorough drill on these examples cannot be overestimated. 15. If any teachers object to formal rules, the follow- ing remarks of Prof. Eussell are commended to their attention : 16. " Persons, even, who admit the use of rules on other subjects, contend, that, in reading and speaking, no rules are necessary ; that a correct ear is a sufficient guide, and the only safe one. If, by a ' correct ear,' be meant a vague exercise of feeling or of taste, unfounded on a principle, the guidance will prove to be that of conjec- ture, fancy, or whim. But if, by a ' correct ear,' be meant an intuitive exercise of judgment or of taste, consciously or unconsciously recognizing a principle, then is there virtually implied a latent rule ; and the instructor's express office, is, to aid his pupil in detect- ing, applying, and retaining tliat rule. 17. " Systematic rules are not arbitrary ; they are founded on observation and experience. No one who is not ignorant of their meaning and application, will ob- ject to them, merely because they are sy.stematic, well defined, and easily understood : every reflective student of any art, prefers systematic knowledge to conjectural judgment, and seizes with avidity on a principle, be- cause lie knows that it involves those rules which are the guides of practice." SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 69 III. Rules for Ehetorical Pauses. Rule I. A rhetorical pause should he made hetwcen the siihjcct and the predicate of a sentence when the subject is emphatic, or when it consists of a i^hrase or a clause, or of a nou7i modified hy a j^hrase or a clause. EXAMPLES. 1. Art 1 is long, and time \ is fleeting, And the grave \ is not its goal. 2. To err \ is liuman, to forgive, divine. 3. To reach the Indies | was the object of Columbus. 4. How he found his way out | is not known. 5. Whom the gods love | die young ( was said of you. 6. Who steals my purse | steals trash. 7. No wind that blew | was bitterer than he. 8. Not to know me \ argues yourself \ unknown. 9. It was for hiui \ that the siin had been darkened, that the rocks \ had been rent, that the dead \ liad risen, tliat all nature \ had shuddered at the sufferings of her expiring God. Death \ had lost its terrors \ and pleasure its charms. Turn to any unmarked selection in Part III. and require inipils to jjoint out further illustrations of this rule. Mule II. Make a rhetorical pause hefore a clause used as a predicate nominative, or as tlie object of a verb. EXAMPLES. 1. The truth is | he knows nothing about the subject. 2. It was in midwinter | that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. 3. I do not know ] where he went. 4. He did not say | when he should go. 5. I wish I that friends were always true. And motives always pure ; I wish I the good were not so few, I wish I the bad were fewer. 70 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Rule III. Make a rhetorical paiise after introductory or transijosccl adverbial words, jjhrases, or clauses. EXAMPLES. 1. Slowly and sadly [ we laid him down. 2. Forth in the pleasing spring | thy beauty walks. 3. In their ragged regimentals [ stood the old conti- nentals. 4. If he did that | he ought to be punished. 5. During that terrible storm | the ship foundered. 6. Who she was | nobody knows. 7. In all its history | the Constitution has been benefi- cent. 8. And up the steep | barbarian monarchs ride. 9. Down I came the blow ! but in the heath The erring blade found bloodless sheath. Hide IV. Unless the 'phrases or clauses arc short or very closely connected, make a rhetorical pause before adjective or adverbial phrases or clauses. EXAMPLES. 1. Tliere is a reaper | whose name is Death. 2. He is the same man | that you spoke of. 3. I will go I when you are ready. 4. Let me have men about me | tliat are fat. 5. The swallows | that build their nests in the old barn [ migrate | wlien winter comes. 6. Our fathers raised their flag against a power | to which, for purposes of foreign conquest and subjuga- tion, Piome, in the height of her glory, is not to be compared — a power | wliich has dotted the surface of the whole globe | with her possessions | and military posts; whose morning drum-beat, following the sun in Ins course, and keeping i)ace with the hours, daily circles the earth | with one continuous and uul)roken strain | of the martial airs of England. wkdster. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 71 Rule V. Make a 2>c^use hcfore and after advcrhs or adverbial phrases transposed so as to hreah the regular order of arrangement. EXAMPLES. 1. The plowman | homeward | plods his weary way. 2. And some | to happy homes | repair. 3. As we 1 to higher levels jrise. 4. Who I of this crowd | to-night | shall tread The dance | till daylight | gleam again ? 5. If Memory | o'er their tomb | no trophies raise. 6. Await I alike | the inevitable hour. 7. Their furrow \ oft \ the stubborn glebe has broke. Rule VI. In sentences introdueed hy idiomatic it or there, make a rhetorical pause hcfore the suhject-phrase or clause that is placed after the predicate. EXAMPLES. 1. There came to the beach ] a poor exile of Erin. 2. It is not known | how the prisongr made his escape. 3. It is not true ] that the poet paints a life that does not exist. 4. There lies ] on the table before me | all that he had written of his latest and last story. Ride VII. Make a rhetorical pause after predicate adjectives used to introduce a sentence, and after nouns or pronouns in the objective case when they are trans- posed so as to come before the verbs ivhich govern them. EXAMPLES. 1. Sweet 1 are the uses of adversity. 2. Few and short 1 were the prayers we said. 3. How sweet and solemn | is tliis midnight scene. 4. Thee | I revisit now | with bolder wing. 5. And all the air ] a solemn stillness | holds. 72 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Rule VIII. When an ellipsis of the verh occurs in a sentence, mulce a rhetorical j^ause. EXAMPLES. 1. Homer was the greater genius ; Virgil | [was] the better artist. In the one | we most admire the man ; in the other — [we most admire] the work. 2. Death had lost its terrors, and pleasure [ [had lost] its charms. 3. Their palaces were houses | not made with hands ; their diadems | [were] crowns of glory which should never fade away. 4. Lands | he could measure, terms and tides j [he could] presage. 5. Thy waters wasted them while they were free, and many a tyrant [has wasted them] since. acquire the class to find five additional examples. Rule IX. Unless the grammatical connection is very close, a sliort pause should he made at the end of every line of poetry, to mark the poetic rhythm. EXAMPLES. L PAKADISE LOST. Anon I out of the earth | a fabric huge | Tiose like an exhalation, with the sound | Of dulcet symphonies, and voices sweet, Built like a temple, where pilasters | n)und Were set, and Doric yjillars, overlaid | With golden architrave. milton. 2. POWER OF Jirsic. 'T was at tlic royal feast, for Persia won | I5y Philip's warlike son — Aloft in awful state | The godlike hero sate | On his imperial throne. drvden. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 73 3. TUE SHIPWKECK. 'T was twilight, for the sunless day went down | Over the waste of waters, like a veil | Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown | Of one I whose hate j is masked but to assail. Tlius to their hopeless eyes | the night was shown. And grimly darkled o'er their faces pale, And the dim, desolate deep ; twelve days | had Fear | Been their familiar, and now Death \ was here. Byron. 4. THE LADDER OF ST. AUGUSTIXE, All these | must first be trampled down | Beneath our feet | if we would gain | In the bright fields of fair renown | The right | of eminent domain. Longfellow. lY. EmpHxVTIc Pauses. Rule, I. Emphatic pauses occur when the reader desires to call marked attention to some word or group of ivords. EXAMPLES. 1. The penalty was | ] | death. 2. ]\Iy answer would be \ \ a hloio. 3. You call me dog ; and for these coiirtesies I '11 lend you | thus \ r)iuch \ moneys. 4. Hath a dog \ mojieg ? Ts it possible | A cur I i can lend | | ] three \ \ thousand \ \ ducats ! 5. Eider and horse, friend, foe, in one \ red \ hurial \ hlcnt. 6. They did not see one \ man, not \ one \ woman, \ \ not I due \ child, not 6ne \ four-footed heast \ \ of any de- scription I I u:hatever. One \ dead \ uniform \ silence j | reigned \ over the whole region . burke. 74 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 7. The love that loves a scarlet coat Should be | | more iXniform. 8. BUNKER HILL. Just a glimpse (the air is clearer), they are nearer | | nearer | | nearer, When a flash — a curling smoke-wreath — then a crash — the steeple shakes ; The deadly truce is ended ; | | the tempest's shroud is rended; | | Like a morning mist it gathered, | ] like a thunder cloud I I it breaks. All througli those hours of trial, I had watclied a calm clock-dial. As the hands kept creeping, \ \ creeping, \ \ \ they were creeping | | round to four. holmes. V. PtECAPITULATION OF PAUSES. 1. In general, a 7'hctoriral jmusc ^koidd he made hehveen the mhject and the piredieate, ivhen the subject is emphatic, or when it consists of a phrase, a clause, or a noitn mod- ified hy a phrase or a clause. 2. A rhetoriccd pause should he made wliencver the regular order of a sentence is hroken hj the inversion of ivords, phrases, or clauses. 3. An emphatic p)ause occurs hefore any word that is very strongly emphatic, or to which tlie reader or speaker desires to ccdl 'marked cdtcntion. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 75 SECTION III. INFLECTION. I. Introductory Eemarks. 1. In all good speaking or reading, there must be ever-varying upward and downward slides of the voice. Inflection is a means, not only of expressing emotion, passion, and emphasis, but, also, of conveying the finer distinctions and contrasts of ideas, and the more delicate shades of feeling and sentiment. 2. Inflection forms an important element of emphasis : for emphasis consists, not only in force, but also in tlie slides and in quantity. 3. Reading, when it lacks the melody of varied em- phasis and inflection, becomes like the monotonous droning of children who laboriously pronounce the suc- cessive words of their reading lesson in the conven- tional school tone. 4. In animated conversation, and in the readino- of simple stories, the inflections take care of themselves without thought by the speaker or reader; but in the long and often inverted sentences of finished prose or poetry, involving a higher and more complicated order of thought, tlie proper application of emphasis and inflection requires some knowledge of the principles of elocution. 5. While it is true that a clear conception of the spirit and meaning by the reader is essential to good reading, it is equally true that, having the right con- ception, the reader may fail to convey it to tlie hearer, from ignorance of the principles that govern tlie correct expression of thought and feeling. 6. Good reading, like fine singing, is the result of systematic training — is the product of culture and art. Tiiere are good natural voices both for sin"in'oudest 711011- uments of its glory and on the very sj)dt of its origin. Eequire each pupil, at the next lesson, to read one additional illus- tration, selected from some extract m this hook. Rule VIII. In poetic description, whether of prose or verse, the p)vevailing inflection is the slight rising injlection of the " third." EXAMPLES. 1. FROM WHITTIER's " RANGER." Nowhere fairer, swdeter, rarer, Does the golden-locked friiit-bearer, Through his painted woodlands stray, Than where hillside oaks and bdeches Overlook the long, blue reaches, Silver coves and pel:)bled bdaches. And green isles of Casco Bay : Nowhere day, for delay, With a tenderer look beseeches, " Let me with my charmed earth stay." 2. WATER. Gleaming in the ddw-drop, singing in the summer rain, shining in the ice-gem till the trees seem turned to living jewels, spreading a golden \6\\ over the setting sun, or a white gauze around the midnight moon ; sport- ing in the cataract, sleeping in the glacier, dancing in the hail-shower, folding bright snow-curtains softly above the wintry world, and weaving the many-colored fris. 92 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. that seraph's zone of tlie sky, whose warp is the rain of ^arth, whose woof is the sunbeam of hdaven, all checkered over with celestial flowers by the mystic hand of rarefaction — still always it is beautiful, that blessed cold water ! No poison bubbles on its V)n'nk — its foam brings not madness and murder — no blood stains its liquid glass — pale widows and starving orphans weep not burn- ing tears in its clear depths — no drunkard's shrieking ghost from the grave curses it in %vords of despair ! Spcah bid, my friends ; would you exchange it for the demon's drink — dlcohol ? A shout like the roar of the tempest answered " No ! No' ! " Denton. 3. THE VOICE OF SPRING. The fisher is out on the sunny sda ; And the reindeer bounds o'er the pasture fr^e ; And the pine has a fringe of softer grden, And the moss looks bright, where my foot liatli been. From the streams and founts I have loosed the chain. They are sweeping on to the silvery main, They are flashing down from tlie mountain brows, They are flinging spray o'er the forest bouglis, They are bursting fresh from their sparry c;ives ; And the earth resounds with the joy of waves. Hkmans. Rule IX. Pathos and tender feeling incline the voice to the slight rising inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. BABIE BELL. And what did dainty Babie Bfell ? She only crossed her little hands ! She only looked more meek and fair ! We parted back lier silken hair ; We laid some buds upon her brow — Death's bride arrayed in flbioers ! ai.drich. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 93 2. THE KANGEK. When the shadows vail the meadows. And the sunset's golden ladders Sink from twilight's walls of grav — From the window of my dreaming, I can see his sickle gleaming, Cheery-voiced can hear him teaming Down the locust-shaded way ; But away, swift away, Fades the fond, delusive sedming, And I kneel again to pray. whittier. Rule X. In a series of words or phrases, if the par- ticulars enumerated arc unimportant, or if they arc to he taken as constituting a vjhole, each p)articidar, except the last in a closing series, takes the rising infection. EXAMPLES. 1. The sun, the planets, their satellites, the comets, and the mdteors, compose the solar system. 2. The solar system consists of the siin, tlie planets, their satellites, the comets, and the meteors. 3. The minerals of California are gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and quicksilver. 4. Wheat, flour, pork, bdef, cotton, tobacco, and petro- leum are exported from the United States. 5. The Goth, the Christian, Time, War, Flood, and Fire, Have dealt upon the seven-hilled city's pride. 6. CHRISTMAS MARKETS. Heaped upon the fl(')or, to form a kind of throne, ■were turkeys, g^ese, game, brawn, great joints of m^at, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum- piiddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry- cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious p^ars, immense twdlfth-Ctikes, and great bowls of punch. dickens. 94 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 7. BOARDING-SCHOOL CUItRICULUM. And thus their studies they pursued : — On Sunday, B^ef, collects, butter, tdxts from Dr. Price; Mutton, French, pancakes, grammar — of a Monday ; Tuesday — hard dumplings, globes, Chapone's Advice. Wednesday — fancy-work, rice-milk (no spice) ; Thursday — pork, dancing, currant-bolsters, reading; Friday, bdef, Mr. Butler, and plain rice ; Saturday — scraps, short lessons and short feeding, Stocks, back-boards, hash, steel-collars, and good brdeding. Hood. 8. FUOM DICKEXS'S " CIIIUSTMAS CAROL." It was a game called Yes and No, where Scrooge's nephew had to think of something, and the rest must find out what ; he only answering to their questions yes or no, as the case was. The fire of questioning to which he was exposed elicited from him that he was thinking of an dnimal, a live animal, rather a disagrec- ahlc animal, a savage animal, an animal that growled and grunted sometimes, and tdlked sometimes, and lived in Ldndoii, and walked about the streets, and was n't made a shdiv of, and was n't led by anybody, and did n't live in a menagerie, and was never killed in a mdrhet, and was not a horse, or an ass, or a c6w, or a hull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a j'^'o^ or a cat, or a hear. 9. FROM Dickens's " Christmas carol." Sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room, all as they shoiild be. Nobody under the table ; nobody under the sofa ; a small fire in tlie grate ; spoon and basin rdady ; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the liob. Nobody under the bi^d ; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the w;ill. Luml)er-room as usual. Old fire-guard, old shoes, two I'ish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 95 II. THE FALLING INFLECTIOK 1. The falling injlcdion is the slide of the cojiijilete statement. 2. It is the characteristic inflection of assertion, of confidence, of eoiiiinand, of emotion, and of 2JC(-ssion. 3. It denotes ivhat is important, interesting, or decisive. It is the prevailing infection of impressive oratory. EULES FOR THE FALLING INFLECTION. Bide I. The close of a declarative, imperative, or cx- clamatorg sentence is genercdly marked hg the falling inflectio7i. EXAMPLES. 1. The liberty of tlie jn-ess is tlie highest safeguard to all free governiiieut. It is like a great^ exulting, and aboundiug river. 2. Maud Muller, ou a summer's day, Eaked the meadow sweet with hay. 3. Ye crags and pdaks, I 'm vjith you once again ! I hold to you tlie hands you first beheld, To show they still are free. Methinks I hear A spirit in your echoes ansiver me, And bid your tenant welcome to his home Again ! sacred forms, how p)roud ye look ! How Itigh you lift your heads into the sky! How hiige you are ! how mighty and how free ! Ride II. Tlie answer to a direct question generally takes the fcdling inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. Are you going to school ? Yes, I am. 2. Sliall traitors lay that greatness low? No ! land of hope and blessing, nh. 96 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. EXCEPTIONS. Answers given in a cardcus or an indifferent manner sometimes take the rising infieetion, as, 1. What do you wuut ? Xotliing. 2. Which will you have ? I do n't care. 3. What did you say ? Not much. 4. May I stay here ? Y^s, you may if you like. 5. Out spoke the ancient fisherman: "0 what was that, my daughter ? " "'Twas nothing but a pdbble, sir, I threw upon the water." "And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast ? " " It 's nothing but a porpoise, sir, that 's been a swim- ming past." Bide III. Impassioned exclamation or very emi^liatic assertion is characterized hy the falling inflection — usually the fifth or eighth. EXAMPLES. [FidliiKi Fif/h.] 1. Bise, fellow-men, our coindry yet remains. 2. Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce conviction. 3. Eloquence is action, nolle, snUimc, ghdlike action. 4. Strike — till tlie last armed foe e,vpires ; Strike — for your altars and your fires ; Strike — for the grc.cn grdvcs of your sires, God — and your native land ! [Falling Eirfhth. — Emotional.'] .5. hhrriUc ! horrihlc ! most hbrriUe ! 6. my prophetic sbul ! my uncle ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 97 7. We lieard the piercing shriek of murder ! murder ! milrder ! 8. I have done my duty : — I stand acquitted to my cdnscience and my country : — I have opposed this measure throughout ; and I now protest against it as harsh, op- pressive, uncalled for, unjust, — as establishing an infamous precedent by retaliating o'ime against crime, — as tyran- nous — cruelly and vindictively tyrannous. o'Connell. 9. The mustering place is Lanrick mead, Speed forth the signal, Norman, spiecd^ ; Her summons dread brooks no delay, Stretch to the race — away, away ! 10. Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy. Let recreant yield who fears to d\e. 11. "Can naught but hldod our feud atdne? Are there n6 means?" Nh, stranger, nhne. Rule IV. Indirect questions and very emphatic direct questions generally take the falling inflection. Interrogative sentences beginning with ivho, which, u^hen, where, why, and how, generally take the falling inflection. A direct question if repeated a second or third time, frequently takes the falling inflection for emphasis. EXAMPLES. 1. What constitutes a State ? 2. What is it that gentlemen wish? 3. When was he graduated 1 4. Why do you not study your lesson ? 5. "Speak louder; I did not hear your question." " Are you going to Bbston ? " 6. why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 7 98 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 7. " Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle ? I siy, do you hear the rain ? Do you hear it against the iiAndows ? Do you hear it, I say ? Oh ! you do hear it ! " Rule V. Completeness of thought or expression, whether in the clauses of a complex sentence, or in the 'p^^odtions of a comjjound sentence, gcncrcdhj requires the falling in- flection. EXAMPLES. 1. DEAD HEROES, ' They fell | devoted, but undying ; The very gale | their names seemed sighing ; The waters \ murmured of their name; The ivdods \ were peopled with iheix fame ; The silent pillar, lone and gray. Claimed hindrcd \ with tlieir sacred clay: Their spirits \ wrapped the dusky mbuntain. Their memory \ sparkled o'er the fountain; The meanest rill, the miglitiest river. Rolled mingling | with their fame forever. Byron. 2. FROM goldsmith's "DESERTED VILLAGE." Imagination fondly stoops to trace The })arlor splendor of tliat festive place : The whitewashed ujdll, the nicely sanded Jlbor, The varnished clock that clicked behind tlie door; The chht, contrived a double debt to pay, A bed by night, a chest of drawers by di\y; The pictures placed for ornament and use, The twelve good rides, the royal game of goose; Tlie hearth, except when winter cliilled the diiy, With aspen houghs and flbivcrs and fhincl gay ; While broken tlacups, wisely kept for show, Eanged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 99 3. bacon's philosophy. It has lengthened life ; it has mitigated 'pain ; it has extinguished diseases ; it has increased the fertility of the soil ; it has given new securities to the mariner ; it has furnished new arms to the warrior ; it has spanned great rivers and estuaries with bridges of form unknown to our fathers ; it has guided the tliunderholt innocuously from hdaven to earth ; it has lighted up the niglit with the splendor of the day; it has extended the range of the human vision ; it has nmltiplied the power of the human muscles ; it has accelerated motion ; it has anni- hilated distance ; it has facilitated Intercourse, correspond- ence, all friendly offices, all despatch of hilsiness ; it has enabled men to descend to the depths of the sea, to soar into the air ; to penetrate securely into the noxious recesses of the earth, to traverse the land in cars which whirl along without horses, and the ocean in ships which run ten knots an hour against the wind. macaulay. 4. FREEDOM. I love Freedom better than Slavery. I will speak her words ; I will listen to her mitsic ; I will acknowledge her impidscs ; I will stand beneath her fidy ; I will fight in her ranks ; and, when I do so, I shall find myself surrounded by the great, the wise, the good, the brave, the noble of every khid. bakeb. 5. choate's eulogy ox webster. "We seem to see his form and hear his deep, grave speech everywhere. By some felicity of his personal life ; by some wise, deep, or beautiful word spoken or written ; by some service of his own, or some commemoration of the services of others, it has come to pass that " our granite hills, our inland shas, prairies, and fresh, un- bounded, magnificent wilderness ; " our encircling ocean ; the resting-place of the Pilgrims ; our new-born sister of 100 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. the Pacific ; our popiilar assemblies ; our fr6e schbols ; all our cherished doctrines of education, and of the inlluence of religion, and national policy and law, and the Constitution, give us back his name. What American Iclnclscajye will you look on ; what subject of American interest will you studi/ ; what source of hope or of anxiety, as an American, will you acknowledge, that it I does not recall him ? Rule VI. In commencing a series of emphatic particu- lars, each particular except the last takes the slight falling inflection of the " third," and in a concluding series, each particular except the last but one takes the falling infec- tion. EXAMPLES. 1. The air, the earth, the water teem with delighted existence. 2. YkloT, humanity, courtesy, justice, and honor, were tlie characteristics of chivalry. 3. The ministers of religion, the priests of literature, the historians of the past, the illustrators of tlie present, capital, science, art, invention, discbveries, the works of genius — all these will attend us in our march, and we shall conquer. Bakeh. 4. The characteristics of chivalry were v^lor, humanity, courtesy, justice, and honor. 5. A TROPICAL SCENE. The mhuntain- wooded to the p^ak, the lawns And winding glades high uj) like ways to hkivcn, The slender coco's drooping crown of p)lknies, The lightning flash of insect and of bird. The luster of the long convblviduses That coiled around the stately stems, and ran Even to the limit of the land, the glows And glories of the broad belt of the wbrld. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 101 All thhc lie saw ; but wliat be fain bad seen He could not s6e, tbe kiudly buman face, Nor ever bear a kindly voice, but beard Tbe myriad sbriek of wlieeling occfm-tbwl, The league-long roller tbundering on tbe reef, Tbe moving wbisper of huge trees tbat branched And blossomed in tbe zenith, or tbe sweep Of some precipitous rivulet to tbe wave, As down tbe shore be ranged, or all day long Sat often in tbe seaward-gazing g6rge, A sbipwrecked sailor, waiting for a sail; No sail from day to day, but every ddy Tbe sunrise broken into scarlet sbafts Among tbe palms and ferns and precipices ; Tbe blaze upon tbe waters to tbe east ; Tbe blaze upon bis Island overbead ; Tbe blaze upon tbe waters to tbe west ; Tben tbe great stars tbat globed tbemselves in bfeaven, Tbe boUower-bellowing ocean, and again Tbe scarlet sbafts of sunrise, — hut no sail. Tennyson's Enoch Arden. ILLUSTRATIOIV. Tbe contrast in tbe rendering of a series witb tbe rising inflection and tbe nnempbatic tone of indiffer- ence, or witb tbe falling inflection and tbe empbasis of feeling, is illustrated by tbe following : Tbe one witb yawning made reply : " Wbat bave we seen ? Not much bave I ! Trdes, meadows, mountains, groves, and streams. Blue sky, and clouds, and sunny gldams." Tbe otber, smiling, said tbe same ; But, witb face transfigured and eye of flame : " Trees, meadows, moimtains, groves, and streams, Blue shy and cloiids and sunny gleams ! " 102 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Rule VII. The cadence, or falling injlcclion at the end of a sentence, must not he made too abruptly. The closing descent in tone at the end of a sentence falls lower than the falling inflection at the end of the propositions that make up a compound sentence, and lower than the slide on emphatic words or clauses. The longer the sentence, the more marked is the cadence. The common errors in cadence are : (1) Dropping the tone suddenly on the last word of the sentence. (2) Falling too soon in the sentence. (3) A gradual dimin- ishing in force towards the end of a sentence, so that the last few words are feebly uttered. (4) A monoto- nous sameness of inflection. The difference between the partial falling inflection in the body of a sentence and the cadence at the close, must be illustrated by the living voice of the teacher. Take the following sentence from Addison for illus- tration : " Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all our senses. It fills the mind with the largest variety of ideas, converses with its objects at the great- est distance, and continues the longest in action without being tired or satiated with its proper enjhyments." Here the slide on "ideas " and " distance " is the partial falling, say the falling tliird, wliile the cadence on " enjoy- ment" runs to the falling fifth. It will be noticed, also, that the voice slides upward on " action," to prepare for the cadence at the close of the sentence. EXAMPLES. 1. I have done my dattj ; I stand acquitted to my conscience and my country ; I have opposed this meas- ure throvyhbiit ; and I now protest against it, as harsh, oppressive, nncMled for, unjust ; as establishing an infa- mous precedent, by retaliating crime against crime; as tyrannous — crudhj and mndletively tyrannous. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 103 2. Ill fares the laud, to hastening ills a prey. Where wealth accumulates and men decay : Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade — A breath can make them, as a breath hks made ; But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. When once destroyed, can never be supplied. 3. God of the earth's extended plains ! The dark green fields contented lie : The mountains rise like holy towers. Where man might commune with the sky; The tall cliff challenges the storm That lowers upon the vale below. Where shaded fountains send their streams, With joyous music in their flow. EuLES FOR Contrasted Inflections. Rule I. When negation is opposed to affirmation, nega- tion has the rising, and affirmntion the falling i'ujlcction. Contrasted icords are emjihatic. EXAMPLES. 1. He did not call you, but me. 2. He called you, not me. 3. He called neither you nor me. 4. Man ne^'er is, but always to he blest. 5. JOHN HOWARD. He visited all Eurojje — not to survey the sumptuous- ness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosities of modern art, nor to collect medals, or collate manuscripts; but to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infection of Jibspitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; to take tlie gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to remember the forgbtten, to 104 SCHOOL ELOCUTIOX. attend to the neglected, to visit the foraaken, and com- pare and coDate the distresses of all men in all countries. His plan is original ; it is as full oi' genius as of ImmdLnity. It was a voyage of cliscbvery — a circumnavigation of chiirity. ^^^^^ Rule II. When the conjmiction OE connects contrasted ivords or phrases, it is jjrcccded by the rising, and fol- lowed hy the falling injlcction. Contrasted words are cinphatic. EXAMPLES. 1. Did he call Jane or 3Riry ? 2. Is this book yours or niine ? 3. Siyik or swhn, live or die, suwine or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. 4. Do we mean to carry on or to give lip the war ? Requii-e an additional example from each pupil. Rule III. Contrast or antithesis is denoted hy ojyposite inflections on the contrasted ivords of a sentence, and the contrasted words are cmp)hatic. Pupils should be cautioned against the common fault of substituting, in cxam2)les of contrast, the circumflex inflections for the direct rising and falling inflections. The following example is often incorrectly read thus : 1. In the one we most admire the man; in the other, the work. It should be read as follows : 2. In the 6ne\fQ most admire the mdn ; in the other, the wbrlc. 3. Incorrect : As is the hcginning, so is the end. 4. Correct : As is the hcginning, so is the ^nd. 5. Incorrect : What we gain in jjojver is lost in time. 6. Correct : What we gain in power is lost in ihne. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 105 The circumflex inflections are properly applied in cases of very emphatic contrast, or in the expression of irony, sarcasm, wit, and humor. Selection 3, at the end of this chapter, affords good illustrations of contrasted circumflex, while selections 1, 2, and 5 are examples of the use of the direct rising and falling inflections. " A fault of local usage, prevailing throughout New England," says Prof, liussell, " is that of giving all em- phasis with the tone of the circumflex. It is a tone incompatible with simplicity and dignity of expression, and belongs properly to irony or ridicule, to the peculiar significance of words and phrases embodying logical or grammatical niceties of distinction, or to the studied and peculiar emphasis which belongs to the utterance of a word intended to convey a pun. This fault Avould be avoided by giving emphasis with the direct inflection, instead of the circumflex." EXAMPLES OF CONTRAST. 1. I said good, not had ; virtuous, not vicious ; educated, not illiterate. 2. He spoke for education, not agdinst it. 3. After the shower, the tranquil sun; Silver stdrs when the day is done. After the snow, the emerald leaves; After the harvest, golden sheaves; After the clouds, the violet sky ; Quiet luoods when the winds go by. After the tempest, the lull of wdves ; After the battle, peaceful graves. After the knell, the wedding-helh ; Joyful greetings from sad farewells. After the hud, the radiant rose; After our iceeping, sweet repbse. 106 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. After the burden, the hlissful mlcd ; After the f4rrow, the waking seed. After the Jlight, the downy nest ; Beyond the sliadowy river — rest. 4. Thus the Puritan was made up of tivb different men : the 6ne, all self-abasement, pdnitence, gratitude, pas- sion ; the 6ther, proud, calm, inllfexible, sagacious. He prostrated himself in the dust before his Maker; but he set his /hot on the neck of his king. 5. ROME AND CARTIi.VGE. The catastrophe of this stupendous drama is at hand. What actors are m^t ! Two races — that of merchants and viarincrs, that of Idhorers and soldiers; tw6 nations — the one dominant by gold, the other by steel; two republics — the one theocratic, the other aristocratic. Rome and Cartilage ! Il6me witli lier army, Ccirthage with her Jlect ; Carthage, did, rich, and crafty — Rome, young, pbor, and rohust ; the j^f^st, and the future ; tlie spirit of dis- cdvery, and tlie spirit of cmiquest ; the genius of cdmmcrce, the demon of vxlr ; the East and the South on dne side, the West and tbe North on the other; in sliort, two vjorlds — the civilization of Africa, and the civilization of Europe. victor iiugo. 6. I have always preferred cliccrfulness to mirth. The hitter I consider as an act, the fdrmer as a hdhit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient, chccrfidness fixed and permanent. Mirth is like a Hash of ligldning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual scrhiity. 7. THK ONK-IIOSS SHAY. For the wheels were just as strong as the tJnlls, And the floor was just as strong as the Mis, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 107 And tlie imnch just as strong as the floor, And the tvhipplc-ty^QQ neither less nor more. And the hack crossbar as strong as the fore, And spring, and axle, and hub encore, And yet, as a whole, it is past a doubt In another hour it will be worn out ! holmes. 8. DUST TO DUST. " Earth to earth, and dust to dust ! " Here the evil and the just, Here the youthful and the old. Here the fear fid and the hold, Here the matron and the maid, In one silent bed are laid ; Here the vcissal and the king Side by side lie withering ; Here the sword and scepter rust — " Earth to earth, and dust t5 dust ! " croly. 9. HUDIBRAS. He was in logic a great critic, Profoundly skilled in analytic. He could distinguish and^ divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side ; On either whicli he would dispute. Confute, change hands and still confute. He 'd undertake to prove by force Of argument a mans no hdrse ; He 'd prove a huzzard. is no fdivl, And that a lord may be an owl ; A calf an dlderman, a goose a jiistice. And rooks committee-men and triXstecs. He'd run in debt by disputation, And pa}'' with ratiocination. butler. 10. TACT AND TALENT. Take them into the cluirch. Talent has always some- thing worth hearing, tact is sure of abundance of hearers ; 108 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. taleut may obtain a living, tact will mdke oue; talent gets a good name, tact a great one ; talent convinces, tact converts; taleut is an honor to the 2y^'<^fcssion, tact gdins honor from the profession. Take them to court. Talent feels its weight, tact finds its wdg ; talent comvidnds, tact is obeyed; talent is honored with approbation, and tact is blessed by preferment. Rule IV. Direct question'^ generally require the rising inflection, and their answers, the falling inflection, EXAMPLES. 1. Have you studied your lesson ? Yfes. 2. Are you going to New York ? K6. 3. OUR COUNTPA'. Oh, country, marvel of the ^arth ! Oh, realm to sudden greatness grown ! The age that gloried in thy birtli, Shall it behold thee overthrown ? Shall traitors lay that greatness low ? 1^0 / Land of Hope and Bldssing, Ndf Bryant. 4. THE INQUIKY. Tell me, my secret soul, Oh, tell me, Hope and Faith, Is there no resting-place From sorrow, sin, and ddath ? Is there no happy spot Where mortals may be bldssed, AVhere grief may find a bdlm, And weariness a rdst ? Faith, Hope, and Love — best boons to mortals given — Waved their bright wings, and whispered " Yes, in heaven ! " Mackav. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 109 5. FKOM " HAMLET." Hamlet. Hold you the vjdtch to-night? Mar. and Bcr. We do, my lord. Hamlet. Armed, say you ? Mar. and Bcr. Armed, my lord. Hamlet. From top to toe ?- Mar. and -5er. My lord, from head to fbot. Hamlet. Then you saw not his fdce ? Hor. Oh, yds, my lord; he wore his beaver up. Hamlet. What, looked he froumingly ? Hor. A countenance more in sorroiv than in anger. Hamlet. Pale or red ? Hor. Nay, very imle. Hamlet. And fixed his eyes upon you ? Hor. Most c6nstantly. Hamlet. I would / had been thdre. Hor. It would have much amazed you. Shakespeare. III. INFLECTIONS OF THE PAEENTHESIS. Rule I. The ivords included in a parenthesis, or be- tween ttvo dashes used as a j^arenthesis, and any phrase corresponding in effect to a parenthesis, are read with the same inflection as the clause immediately preceding them. "A lower and less forcible tone, and a more rapid utterance, than in the other parts of a sentence, together with a degree of monotony, are required in the reading of a parenthesis. The form of parenthesis implies some- thing thrown in as an interruption of the main thought in a sentence. Hence its suppressed and hurried toue ; the voice seeming to hasten over it slightly, as if impa- tient to resume the principal object. The same remark applies, with more or le"§s force, to all intervening phrases, whether in the exact form of parenthesis or I^f^t. Russell. 110 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. EXAMPLES. 1. Uprightness is a habit, and, like all other habits, gains strength by time and exercise. If then we Exer- cise npright principles (and we cannot have them, unless we exercise thdni), they must be perpetually on the increase. 2. " And this," said h6 — putting the remains of a crnst into his wallet — "and this should have been thp portion," said hh, "hadst thou been alive to have shared it with me." 3. To my mind — thougli I am native here, And to the manner born — it is a custom More honored in the breach than the observance. Shakespeare. Summary of Inflection. 1. The stronger the emphasis, the longer the slides. 2. In u7iimpassioned reading, the emphasis is slight aiul tlie slides are short : in hold and dignified composi- tion, the emphasis is stronger and the slides are longer: and in highly impassioned or dramatic reading, the em- phasis is strongest and the slides are longest. 3. The general principle that underlies all the rules of inficction is as follows: The rising inflection in general denotes incompleteness of statement, comimratircly unim- portant statement, interrogation, or negation ; the falling inflection denotes completed or emphatic statement. Geneual Inflection Drill. 1. Sing the scale, upward and downward. 2. Substitute in ])lace of the note names the long vocals, thus : a, e, i, o, u, a, e, 5. 3. Sound the third, lifth, and eighth notes of the SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Ill scale ; then substitute for the note names the following : e, d, 00. 4. Give the long vowel sounds, a, e, i, 5, u, (1) with tlie rising "second;" (2) with the rising "third;" (3) with the rising " tilth ; " (4) with the rising " eighth." 5. Give the long vowel sounds, a, e, I, o, u, with the falling " second," " third," " fifth," and " eighth." 6. Give the long vowel sounds, a, e, T, o, ii, with the rising wave of the " third ; " of the " fifth ; " of the " octave ; " the falling wave with the same degrees. IV. THE CIRCUMFLEX INFLECTION". Tlie circumflex, or wave, is a combination of the rising and falling inflections on the same word or sound. The rising circumflex ends with the rising inflection, and is denoted thus ("); the falling circumflex ends with the downward slide, and is marked thus (^). The circumflex is more emphatic than the direct rising and falling inflections. The circumflex may be divided into the distinctive and the emotional. 1. The Distinctive Circumflex of the Third. The distinctive, or unimpassioned, circumflex occurs when the voice rises or falls through the interval of the third. It is the characteristic inflection of good-natured raillery, of humor, and of wit. It is used in express- ing a pun, or a play upon words. It expresses a double meaning, or a double relation. It carries the mind back to something that has been said, or forward to some- thing to he said. This form of circumflex is a delicate wave of the voice, and is very expressive ; but great care should be taken not to overdo it. Carried to excess, it becomes ridiculous. 112 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. II. IxFLECTiON Drill. 1. Sound the long vocals, a, e, i, o, u, with the slight rising circumflex of tlie third; with the slight falling circumflex. 2. Count from one to twenty, with the slight rising circumflex; with the falling wave of the third. I 3. It is n't the secret I care about, Mr. Caudle. It 's the slight. 4. Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle ? 5. When lawyers take what they would (jive, And doctors give what they would take. 6. I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong. Who, you all know, are honorahle men. 7. Men, indeed.! call tliemselves lords of creation! Pretty lords, when tliey can't even take care of an urn- hrella ! 8. Let any man resolve to do right now, leaving th^n to do as it can; and if he were to live to the age of Methijbsclah, he would never do wrong. But the com- mon error is to resolve to act right after breakfast, or after dinner, or to-nwrroiu morning, or nlxt time. But now, just now, this once, we must go on the sdme as hver. III. Emotional Circumflex. The emotional circumflex occurs wlion the voice rises or falls tlirough an interval of the fifth or tlio eiglith. It is the wave of irony, sarcasm, scorn, contempt, hatred, revenge, astonishment, or amazement. It is the inflection of very strong em])hasis. The rising circumflex occurs where, otherwise, the direct rising inflection would be used; and the falling wave where, otherwise, the falling slide would be applied. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 113 IV. Inflection Drill. 1. Sound the loDg vocals, a, e, I, o, u, with the rising circumflex of the fifth; with the falling circumflex. 2. Repeat, five times, with surprise, the words, " ah ! indeed!'' with the rising circumfiex of the fifth. 3. Gone to be married! gone to swear 2i peace! 4. Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, loassions ? 5. Eepeat, with irony and the falling wave of the fifth, the expression, "I tdld you s8." 6. Sound the long vocals, a, e, I, 5, ii, with the rising wave of the eighth ; the falling wave of the eighth. 7. Eepeat, five times, with the greatest possible aston- ishment, the following : ah ! indeed ! is it true ! 8. nohle judge! excellent young man! 9. M! by St. Bride of Bothwell, no! 10. Soars thy presumption then so high, Because a wretched Mm ye slew, Homage to name to Rocleridc Dhu? V. Examples of the Distinctive Circumflex. The distinctive circumflex is the delicate wave of the voice, generally of the rising or falling third, indicative of mirth, fun, wit, humor, and good-natured raillery. In the following examples, be careful not to overdo the inflection or the emphasis. EXAMPLES. 1. THE DEBTOR. A dM)tor is a man of mark. Many 4yes are fixed upon him ; many have interest in his well-being ; his move- ments are of concern; he can not disappear unheeded; 114 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. his name is in many mouths; his name is upon many hooks ; he is a man of note — of promissory note ; he fills the speculdtion of many minds ; men conjecture about him, wonder about him — wonder and conjecture whether he will pdy. He is a man of consequence, for many are riXnning after him. His door is thronged with diXns. He is inquired after every hour of the day. Judges hear of him and know him. Every meed he swdllows, every coat he puts upon his hdck, every dollar he borrows, appears before tlie country in some formal document. Compare Ids notoriety with the obscure lot of the cred- itor — of the man who has nothing but claims on tlie world; a Idndlord, or fund-\\o\i\Qx, or some sUch disa- greeable, hard character. 2. falstaff's instinct. Why, I knew ye as well as he that mdde ye. Why, hear me, my masters: was it for me to kill the Mir- apparent ? Should / turn upon the true p)rince ? Why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercides; but beware instinct ; the lion will not touch the true prince ; instinct is a great matter; I was a coward, on instinct. I sliall think the better of myself and thee during my life; / for a valiant Ron, and thou for a true prince. 3. falstaff's honor. How then 1 Can honor set a leg ? No. Or an arm ? No. Or take away the gi'uf of a wound ? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, then ? N8. What is honor ? A word. What is that word ? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hdth it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it ? No. Doth he hear it ? No. Is it insensible, tlieu ? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living ? No. Why ? Detraction will not suffer it ; therefore I '11 nSne of it. — Honor is a mere 'scutcheon — and so ends my catechism. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 115 4, PORTIA, IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels bad been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine tbat follows his own instvdctions. I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow mine own tedching. The brain may devise laws for the blood ; but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree ; such a hare is madness, the youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel, the cripple. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. me I the word choose ! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike ; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I can not choose one, nor refuse ndne ? 5. ROMEO AND JULIET. Jid. Oh ! swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon That monthly changes in her circled orh ; Lest that thy love prove likcvnse variable. Ptom. What shdll I swear by ? Jul. Do not swear at all; Or, if thou ivilt, swear by thy gracious self, Which is the god of my idolatry, And I '11 believe thee. 6. NELLY GRAY. O, N'elly Gray ! 0, Nelly Gray ! Is this your love so warm ? The love that loves a scarlet coat Should be more ilniform ! Hood. 7. THE witch's DAUGHTER. Her mother only killed a cow. Or witclied a churn or dairy-pan ; But she, forsooth, must charm a mdn. whittle. 116 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. CONTENTMENT. Little I ask ; my wants are ftw : I only wish a hut of stone (A veiy plain hrotvn stone will do), That I may call my own ; And close at hand is such a one, In yonder street that fronts the sun. I always thought cold victual nice. My cMice would be va7iilla-ice. I only ask that fortune send A little more than I can sjjend. holmes. 9. AUNT TABITHA. Whatever I do, and whatever I say, Aunt Tabitha tells me that is n't the ivay. When she was a girl (forty summers ago), Aunt Tabitlia tells me they never did so. Holmes. VT. Examples of Emotional CircUxMFLex. The emotional circumflex runs into the fifth and eighth, and requires strong emphasis. This form of the circumflex is expressive of sarcasm, irony, astonishment, revenge, and hatred. EXAMPLES. 1. FROM Dickens's "ciiuistmas carol." " Let me hear another sound from you," said Scrooge, " and you '11 keep your Christmas by losing your situa- tion. You 're quite a powerful speaker, sir," lie added, turning to his nephew. " I wonder you do n't go into Pdrliament." 2. KING JOHN. Tlwu wear a Hon's hide ? Doff it for shdme, And hang a edlf-skin on those recreant limbs. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 117 3. CORIOLANUS. Ileasureless liar ! thou hast made my heart Too great for what contains it. £Sy ! Cut me to pieces, Volscians ; men and lads, Stain dll your edges on me. Boy ! — If you have writ your annals true, 't is there That, like an eagle in a dovecot, / Fluttered your Volscians in Corioli : Alune I did it. Boi/ ! 4. SHTLOCK. If it will feed nothing llse, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me of lialf a mill- ioii ; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my ndtion, thwarted my hdrgains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. And what 's his reason ? I am a Jew ! Hath not a Jew eyes .? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions ? Is he not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter, as a Christian is ? If you stab us, do we not hleed ? If you tickle us, do we not laugh ? If you 2^^ison us, do we not die ? And if you ivrong us, shall we not revenge ? 5. SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. Sir Peter. Very well, ma'am, very well ; so a husband is to have no influence, no duthority ? Lady Teazle. Authority ! No, to be sure ; if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me, and not married me ; I 'm sure you were old enough. Sir Peter. Old enough ! ay, there it Is. Will, v:ell. Lady Teazle, though my life may be made unliappy by your temper, I '11 not be ruined by your extravagance. Lady Teazle. My extravagance ! Sir Peter, am / to blame because flowers are dear in cold iveather ? You 118 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. should find fault with the climate, and not with me. For my part, I 'm sure, I wish it was spring all the year round, and that roses grew under our feet. Sir Peter. Zounds ! Madam, you had no taste when you married me. Lady Teazle. That 's very true, indeed, Sir P^ter ; and after having married you, I should never pretend to taste again, I allow. 6. OTHELLO. lago. My noble lord- Othello. What dost thou say, lago ? lago. Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, know of your love ? Othello. He did, from first to last. Why dost thou dsJc ? lagn. But for a satisfaction of my thought ; No further harm. Othello. Why of thy thought, lago ? lago. I did not think, he had been acquainted with her. Othello. yds ; and went between us very oft. lago. Indeed 1 Othello. Indded ! ^y, indeed: — Discern'st thou aught in tliat 1 Is he not honest ? lago. Honest, my lord ? Othello. Ay, honest. lago. My lord, for aught 1 know. Othello. What dost thou tlunk 1 lago. Tlunk, my lord ? Othello. Tlcink, my Idrd ? By lieavens ! he echoes me. As if there were some monster in his thought Too hideous to be shown. Thou dost mean something. 7. FROM THE " HONEYMOON." Julia. I will go hu7ne ! Duke. You are at home already. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 119 Julia. I '11 not endiXre it 1 — But remember this — Duke or no duke, I '11 be a duchess, sir ! Duke. A duehessf You shall be a queen — to all Who, by the courtesy, will call you so. Julia. And I will have attendance ! Duke. So you shall, When you have learned to wait upon yourself. Julia. To wait upon myself! Must I bear this? V Duke. Excellent ! How idell you sum the duties of a ivife ! Why, what a Messing I shall hdve in you ! Julia. A blessing ? Duke. When they talk of you and mg. Darby and Joan shall no more be remembered : — We shall be huirpy ! Julia. Shall we ? Duke. Wondrous happy ! Oh, you will make an admirable wife ! Julia. I will make a vixen. Duke. What ? Julia. A very vixen. Duke. Oh, no ! We '11 have no vixens. Julia. I '11 not bear it ! I '11 to my fdthcr's !— Tobin. V. THE MONOTONE. The monotone is one uniform tone, which neither rises nor falls in pitch above or below the general level of the sentence. It is a continuous flow of sound, corre- sponding, in some degree, to the chanting tone in vocal music. It is generally associated with low pitch and slow movement. When the voice is under the influence of awe or horror, the monotone strikes upon the ear like the recurring pulsations of a deep-toned bell. 120 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. The monotone is the natural expression of voice when the feelings are under the influence of awe, adoration, reverence, sublimity, grandeur, or horror. " Grandeur of thougiit and sublimity of feeling," says Tower, "are always expressed by this movement. The effect produced by it is deep and impressive. When its use is known, and the rule for its application is clearly understood, the reading will be characterized by a solemnity of manner, a grandeur of refinement, and a beauty of execution, wliich all will acknowledge to be in exact accordance with tlie dictates of Nature, and strictly within the pale of her laws." The monotone, one of the most effective tones in elocution, must not be confounded with monotony, one of the worst faults in school reading. There is one form of monotone, prevailing in the poetry of sentiment, that is not combined with low pitch. This may be called jwetic monotone, as contrasted with the monotone on a low pitch, which may be termed g7'ave monotone. In poetic monotone, tlic key is not necessarily lower than the middle pitch, though there is always something of the suppressed force of pathos and sentiment. In examples of the poetic monotone, the slight or suspen- sive rising inflection takes the place of monotone. I. Inflection Drill on the Monotone. 1. Eepeat, five times, the long vowel sounds, a, e, T, 6, ii. 2. Count, in low pitch combined with monotone, from one to twenty, thus : 5ne, two, three, etc. 3. Pioll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, rdll! Ten thdusand fleets sweep over thee in vain. 4 An ancient time-piece says to all — rSrever — never ! Never — fSrcver ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 121 II. Examples of Poetic Monotone. 1. FROM POE's "raven." Then, methoiiglit, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim, whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor. This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl, whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core ; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er She shall press, ah, nevermore 2. FROM "the closing .SCENE." Long, but not loud, the droning wheel went on, Like the low murmur of a hive at noon ; Long, but not loud, the memory of the gone Breathed through her lips a sad and tremulous tune. At last the thread was snapped : her liead was bowed ; Life dropped the distaff through his hands serene, — And loving neiglibors smoothed her careful shroud, While Death and Winter closed the autumn scene. Read. 3. PASSING AWAY. While yet I looked, what a change there came ! Her eye was quenched, and her cheek was wan ; Stooping and staffed was her withered frame. Yet just as busily swung she on. The garland beneath her had fallen to dust: The wheels above her were eaten with rust. 122 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. The hands, that over the dial swept, Grew crooked and tarnished, but on they kept; And still there came that silver tone From the shriveled lips of the toothless crone — Let me never forget, to my dying day, The tone or the burden of that lay — *•' Passing away I Passing away ! " PlEKPONT. III. Low, OR Grave, Monotone. The low, or grave, monotone is pitched on the lower notes of the voice. It is indicated by the macrons placed over the vowels : 1. Alexander's feast. He chose a mournful miise, Soft pity to infuse : He sung Darius great and good, By too severe a late. Fallen, fallen, fallen, iallen, Frdlen from his high estate, And weltering in his blood. drtoen. 2. THE SEA. Break, break, break. On thy cold gray stones, Sea ! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. well for the fisherman's b5y, That he shouts with his sister at play I well for the sailor lad, That lie sings in his boat on the bay! And the stately ships g5 on To their haven under the hill; SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 123 But for the touch of a vanished hand, And tlie sound of a voice that is still ! Break, break, break, At the foot of thy crags, Sea ! But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never come back to me. tennyson. 3. DEATH. Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath, And stars to set — but all. Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death ! Hemans. 4. DRIFTING. From the strong Will, and the Endeavor That forever Wrestles with the tides of Fate ; From the wreck of Hopes far scattered, Tempest-shattered, Floating waste and desolate ; — Ever drifting, drifting, drifting On the shifting Currents of the restless heart ; Till at length in books recorded. They, like hoarded Hoiisehold words, no more depart. LoNorELLow 5. THE BATTLE. Heavy and solemn, A cloudy column, Through the gi^een plain they marching came — Measureless spread, like a table dread, For the wild, grim dice of the iron game. 124 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Looks are bent on the shaking ground, Hearts beat low with a knelling sound ; Swift by the breast that must bear the brunt, Gallops the major along the front. "Hctlt!" And fettered they stand at the stark command, And the warriors, silent, halt. scuiller. 6. THE PRISONER OF CHILLOX. For all was blank, and bleak, and gray; It was not night — it was not day; It was not even the dungeon light, So hateful to my heavy sight — But vacancy absorbing space. And fixedness — without a place; There were no stars — no earth — no time — No check — no change — no good — no crime — But silence, and a stirless breath Which neither was of life nor dfeath : A sea of stagnant idleness — Blind, boundless, mute, and motionless. byron. 7. What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, Gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking " Nevermore." 8. To-raoiTow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time ; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty dfeath. Out, out, brief candle ! Life 's but a walking shadow ; a poor player, That struts and frets Ids hour upon the stage. And tlien is lieard no more : it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 125 9. THE OCEAN'. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests ; In all time, Calm or convulsed, in breeze, or gale, or storm, Icing the pole, or in the t5rrid clime Dark-heaving — boundless, endless, and sublime ; The Image of Eternity — the throne Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone Obfeys thee ; thou g5est forth, dread, fathomless alone. Byrox. 10. SONG OF THE SHIRT. Work — w5rk — work ! Till the brain begins to swim ; WSrk — work — work ! Till the eyes are heavy and dim ! Seam, and gusset, and band. Band, and giisset, and seam. Till over the biittons I fall asleep, And sew them on in a dream ! hood. 11. THE GHOST IN HAMLET. Ghost. I am thy father's spirit ; Doomed for a certain term to walk the night ; And, for the day, confined to fast in fires. Till the fijul crimes, dune in ray days of nature, Are biirnt and purged away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-huuse, I c5uld a trde unfold, whose lightest word Wotild harrow up thy soul ; freeze thy young blood ; Make thy tw5 eyes, like stars, start from their spheres ; Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end, Like qiiills upon the fretful porcupine. Shakespeare. 126 school elocution. Recapitulation of Inflections. 1. The rising inflection is the slide, of ajJjJeal, of inquiry, of incompleteness, and of negation contrasted with aflirma- tion. 2. The falling inflection is the slide of assertion, of com- mand, and of complete statement. 3. The circumflex is the wave of loit, humor, raillery, irony, sarcasm, satire, and revenge. 4. Tlie monotone is the tone expressive of grandeur, sub- limity, reverence, awe, amazement, and horror. Inflection Dkill Eeview. 1. Eepeat, three times, the long vowel sounds, a, e, i, 6, u. (1) With the rising second. (2) With the ris- ing third. (3) With the rising fifth. (4) With the rising octave. 2. Repeat, three times, a, e, I, 5, u. (1) With tlie falling second. (2) With the falling third. (3) With the falling fifth. (4) With tlie i'alling eighth. 3. Repeat, tliree times, with tlie same degrees of in- flection as above, e, a, ji, o, o. 4. Repeat, three times, a, e, T, 6, u. (1) With the rising circumflex of the third. (2) Fifth. (3) Octave. (4) Falling circumflex of the third. (5) Falling fifth. (6) Falling octave. 5. The same degrees of the circumflex as above, on e, a, ii, 5, o. 6. Repeat, three times, a, e, i, o, u, with the low mon- otone. 7. Repeat, three times, e, a, a, a, 6, o, with the low monotone. school elocution. 127 Inflection Drill on Vocals, Read, in concert, the words of the follovnng Table : 1. With the rising inflection. 2. With the falling inflection. 3. With the rising circumflex. 4. With the falling circumflex. a, e. — ale, made, braid, gange, veil, play, weight, a. — alms, chart, heart, liiugh, haunt, aunt, path. a, 6. — all, awe, law, fall, haul, bawl, -erawl, ought, a. — add, that, brat, hand, land, plaid, bade, a. — air, bare, dare, prayer, there, hair, scarce. a — ask, €ask, task, pass, grass, dance, glance, a, 6. — what, spot, wad, wand, was, watch, wan. e. — eat, beat, beet, thege, seize, freeze, leave§. e. — end, let, threat, get, gem, bread, yet, said, e, 1. — earth, heard, le.irn, earn, err, third, gird, e, a. — they, weigh, nay, neigh, sleigh, prey, pray. 1. — I(;;e, Isle, aisle, wine, height, while, rhyme. 1. — ill, it, win, thin, been, gin, since, zinc. T, e. — mirth, girl, dirt, verse, terse, worse, world, i, e. — pique, clique, €reek, oblique, ravine. 5. — old, tlioge, groan, force, p5ur, roar, more, o. — odd, on, blot, spot, got, god, rod, phlox, o, 00, u. — move, proof, lo§e, loose, roof, choose, o, a. — or, nor, war, for, lord, €ord, fought, -caught. 6, II. — done, doth, dost, diist, blood, flood, -eouie. 9, 00, 11. — wolf, would, \vo6d, could, should, good, u. — ii§e, mute, mu§e, feud, lieii, view, new, tube, ii, 6. — lip, biit, hiit, son, blood, giin, diick, some. 11. — urge, piirge, surge, curd, urn, burn, chiirn. u, 00, o. — rule, s-ehool, brute, route, wound, rude. 11, 00, o. — put, pull, push, bull, wool, wdf, wood, oi, oy. — oil, toy, boil, -eoil, roil, joy, boy, cloy, ou, ow. — out, noun, proud, now, how, gout, pout. 123 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Examples of E.MniASis, Tauses, and Inflection. 1. JOHN' BUNYAX. Bunyan | is almost the only writer ] that ever gave to the ahstrdct \ the interest of the concrete. In the worlcs of many celebrated autliors [ men are mere inrsonificdi- tions. We have not an Othello, but jecdousi/ ; not an Idgo, but perfidy ; not a Brutus, but i^atriotism. The mind of Bunyan, on tlie contrary, was so imaginative | that personificdtions, when he dealt with them, became mhi. A dialogue between two qualities, in his dream, has more dramatic effect | than a dialogue between two human beings \ in most pldys. The style of Bunyan | is delightful to every reader, and invaluable [ as a study | to every person | who wishes to obtain a wide command over the English language. The vocdhulary \ is the vocabulary of the common 2^eople. There is not an expression, if we except a few technical terms of theology, which would puzzle the rudest i^^^c^sant. We have observed several pdges j which do not contain a single ivbrd \ of more than tied Ayllahles. Yet nd writer I has said more exdetly \ what he mhint to say. For magnificence, for pathos, for vehement exhortation, for subtile disquisition, for every purpose of the p(')et, the orator, and the divine, this homely dialect, the dialect of plain ivdrlcingmcn, was perfectly sufficient. There is no book in our lltercdurc \ on which we would so readily stake the fdme \ of the old unpolhited Englisli language; no Jjool: I which sliows so well | liow licli that language is, in its own proper wdalth, and how little it has been improved \ by all tliat it has hbrroivcd. Cowper said, fifty or sixty years ag('), tliat he dared not name John Bunyan in his verse, for fear of moving a snhr. We \ live in better times ; and we are not afrdid \ to say, that though there were many clever men in England I during the latter half of the seventeenth c^n- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 129 tury, there were only two | great \ credtivc \ minds. One of these produced the " Paradise Lost," the otlwr \ the "Pilgrim's I'rogress." macaulay. 2. HYDER ALL [77iis extract must he read with stronghj marked rising and falling wjlections.] Wliilst the authors of all these evils | were idly and stupidly gazing on this menacing meteor, which black- ened all the iiorizon, it suddenly hurst, and poured down the whole of its contents | upon the plains of the Car- natic. Then ensued a scene of woe, the like of which | no eye j had seen, no hedrt \ conceived, and which no tongue \ can adequately tell. The miserable inhabitants, ilying from their flaming villages, in part | were slaugh- tered ; others, without regard to sex, to age, to 7'dnk, or sacredness of function — fdthcrs \ torn from cliildren, Mis- hands I from vnvcs — enveloped in a whirlwind of cavalry, and amidst tlie goading spears of drivers, and the tram- pling of pursuing horses, were swept into cdptivlti/, in an unkn('i\\u and hostile land. Those who were able to evade this tempest, fled to the walled c\ties. But, escaping from fire, sivdrd, and exile, they fell into the jaws of famine. For eighteen months, without intermission, this desti'ue- tion I raged | from the gates of Mach-ds \ to the gates of Ta7ijbre; and so completely did these masters in their art, Hyder Ali, and his more ferocious son, absolve themselves | of their impious v6w, that when the British armies \ traversed, as they did, the Carnatic 1 for hun- dreds of miles in all directions, through the whole line of their march they did not see one \ man, not one \ woman, not 6ne \ child, not one | four-fdotcd heast \ of any descrij}- tion I whatever. One dead | iiniform | silence | reigned ( over the M'hole region. bueke. 130 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 3. CONTRAST OF TACT AND TALENT. [This extract affords a good illustration of distinctive w unimpassioned circumflex.] Talent \ is something, but tact | is every thing. Talent | is serious, sober, grave, and respectable : tact | is all tltat, and more too. It is not a sixth sense, but it is the life of all the five. It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch; it is the interpreter of all riddles, the siirmoicnter of all dlji- culties, the remover of all obstacles. It is useful in all places, and at all times; it is useful in solitude, for it shows a man into the world ; it is useful in society, for it shows him his way | through the world. Talent \ is jjoiver, tact \ is sJdll ; talent \ is weight, tact [ is mo)nentum ; talent \ knows luliat to do, tiict | knows hoio to do it; talent \ makes a man respectable, tact | will make him respected; talent is vSealth, tdct | is ready money. For all the practical purposes, tdct \ carries it against tdlent \ ten to one. Take them to the theater, and put them against each other on the stage, and tdlent \ sliall produce you a tragedy that shall scarcely live long enougli to be con- demned, while tdct \ keeps the house in a roar, niglit after night, with its successful farces. There is no want of dramatic tdlent, there is no want of dramatic tdct; but they are seldom togUher : so we have successful pieces 1 which are not respectable, and resjJ^ctable pieces j which are not successful. Take them to the bar, and let them shake their learned curls at each other in l^gal rivalry; tdlent | sees its way clearly, but tdct \ is first at its journey's end. Tdlent \ has many a compliment from the bdncli, but tdct | touches fees. Tdlent makes tlie world wonder tliat it gets on nofdstcr, tdct | arouses astcuiishment | that it gets on so fast. And the secirt is, that it lias no ivrig/it to carry; it makes no false st^ps ; it hits the riglit nail on the SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 131 head; it loses no time; it takes all hints; and by keep- ing its eye on the weather-cock, is ready to take advantage of every wind that blows. Take them into the church : talent | has always some- thing worth hearing, tact \ is sure of abundance of hear- ers ; talent \ may obtain a living, tact will make one ; talent \ gets a good name, tact \ a great one ; talent | con- vinces, tact I converts ; talent \ is an honor to the pro- fession, tact I gains honor | from the profession. Take them to cmtrt : talent \ feels its weight, tact | finds its v'dg ; talent \ convmaiuls, tact \ is obeyed; tal- ent I is honored with approbation, and tact | is blessed by preferment. Place them in the senate: talent \ has the ear of the house, but tact | wins its heart, and has its votes; talent \ is fit for employment, but tact \ is fitted for it. It has a knack | of slipping into place with a sirect silence and glibness of movement, as a bill- iard-hdiVi insinuates itself into the pocket. It seems to know 'ivery thing, without learning dny thing. It has served an extemporary a2Jpr entices! dp ; it wants no drilling ; it never ranks in the dwkward squad ; it has no left hand, no deaf ear, no blind side. It puts on no look of ivondrous wisdom, it has no air of profun- dity, but plays with the details of place | as dexterously as a well-taught hand \ flourishes over the keys of the piano-forte. It has all the air of commonplace, and all the force and power of genius. London Atias. 4. THE PURIT.VXS. [Afarked for emphasis, inflection, and rhetorical pa^ises. Bequirc the class to give the reasons for the viarking. To be read with strongly marked emphasis and in flections. '\ We would speak first of the Puritans, the most remarkaljle body of men, perhaps, which the world has ever produced. The ddioiis and ridicidous parts of their character | lie on the surface. He that riins \ may rhad 132 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. tliera ; nor have there been wanting | attentive and malicious observers | to point them out. For many years after the liestoration, they were the theme | of unmeas- ured invective and derision. They were exposed | to the utmost licentiousness of the press \ and of the stdgc, at the time when the press and the stage | were most licen- tious. They were nbt men of Utters ; tliey were \ as a \)oi}iy \ vnipopnlar ; they could not defend themselves; and the public \ would not take them | under its protec- tion. They were therefore abandoned | without reserve \ to the tender mdrcies | of the satirists and dramatists. The ostentatious simplicity of their dr4ss, their sour dspject, their nasal tivdng, their stiff pdsture, their long grdces, their Hchrew ndmes, the scriptural pJirdscs which they introduced on every occdsion, their contempt of human learning, their detestation of polite amusements, were indeed fair game for the laughers. But it is not from the laughers alone | that the j>>/ti7J-:iOjj7i// of history \ is to be learned. And he who approaches this subject [ should carefully guard against the influence | of that potent ridicule \ which has already misled so many ex- cellent writers. Those who roused the people to resistance, who directed their measures through a long series of event- fid years, who formed, out of the most unpromising materials, the finest drmii \ that Europe had ever seen, who trampled down Jcing, Church, and aristdcracy, who, in the short intervals of domestic sedition and rebellion, made the name of England | terrible to every nation on the face of the earth, were no vulgar fanatics. Most of their absurdities | were mere ^.tternal badges, like the signs of freemasonry, or the dresses of friars. We re- gret 1 that these badges | were not more attractive. We regrU \ that a b(')dy | to whose courage and talents | man- kind has owed incstimcdjlc obligdtions | had not the lofty elegance \ which distinguished some of the adherents of SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 133 Charles I., or the easy good hrecding \ for which the court of Charles ll. was celebrated. But, if we must make our choice, we shall, like Bassauio in the play, turn from the specious caskets, which contain only the death's head and the fooVs head, and fix our choice | on the plain leaden chest | which conceals the treasure. The Puritans \ were men | whose minds | had derived a ^JX'mZta?' character \ from the daily contemplation | of superior Mings \ and eternal interests. Not content \ with acknowledging, in general terms, an overriding Frdvi- dence, they habitually ascribed evcrg event \ to the will of tlie Great Being, for whose poivcr \ nothing was too vast, for whose inspection \ nothing was tdo minute. To hibio ]iim, to serve him, to enjoy him, was with them [ the great end of existence. They rejected with con- tempt I the ceremonious homage | which other sects | substituted for the pure ivdrship of the soul. Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the Deity | through an obscuring veil, they aspired to gaze full | on the intdlerahle hrlghtncss, and to commune with him | fdee to face. Hence originated | their contempt \ for terres- trial distinctions. The difference between the greatest and the meanest of mankind | seemed to vanish, when compared with the boundless interval j which separated the whole race \ from him I on whom their Swn eyes | were constantly fixed. They recognized no title to superiority | but his favor ; and, cdnfidcnt of that favor, they despised all the accdvi- plishments \ and all the dignities of the icbrld. If they were unacquainted with the works of 2>^^'^l^sop)hcrs and pdcts, they were decpbj read \ in the oracles of God. If their names were not found in the registers of heralds, they felt assured that they were recorded in the Book of Life. If their steps were not accompanied by a splendid train of menials, legions of ministering angels \ had charge over them. Tlieir p)dlaces \ were houses | 134 SCHOOL j:locution. not made with hands, their diadems \ crowns of gl^rtj \ which sliould never fade aiuay. On the rieh and the eloquent, on ndhles and 2:)Hests, they looked down with conthiq^t ; for they esteemed themselves | rich in a more 2>reeious treasure, and eloquent in a mo7'e sublhne language, nobles \ by the right of an earlier ereation, and priests | by the imposition | of a mightier hdml. Tlie very meanest of them | was a heing \ to whose fate | a mysterious and terrible importance \ be- longed — on whose slightest actions \ the spirits of light and darkness \ looked with anxious interest — who had been destined, before heaven and earth were created, to enjoy a felicity \ which should continue | when heaven and darth | should have passed away. Events \ which short-sighted politicians | ascribed to earthly causes ] had been ordained on Ids account. For his sake | empires had risen, and flourished, and decayed. For his sake ) the Almighty \ had proclaimed his will | by the pen of the evangelist | and the harp of the pro|)het. He had been rescued by no common deliverer | from the grasp | of no common foe. He had been ransomed | by the sweat of no viilgar agony, by the blood of no earthly sacrifice. It was for him \ that the sim | had been dark- ened, that the rbcls \ had been rent, and the dead had arisen, that all nature \ had shuddered at the suflerings | of her expiring God ! Thus the Piiritan \ was made up | of ticb different men, the one \ all s,(d\^-abciscmcnt, ^JcvjzYcTice, grdtitudc, passion; the other \ proud, calm, inflexible, sagacious. He prostrated himself in the ddst before his Maker ; but he set his foot | on tlic neck of his king. In his devbtional retirement, he prayed with convixlsions, and groans, and thtrs. He was hcdf-maddcned by gldrious \ or thrible illijusions. He heard the lyres of dngels \ or the tempting whispers of Jihids. He caught a gleam of the BecUific Vision, or woke scrkiming \ from dreams of SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 135 everldstmg fire. Like Vane, he thought himself intrusted with the scepter | of the millennial year. Like Fleet- wood, he cried in the bitterness of his soul | tliat God \ had hid his fd,ce from him. But when he took his seat in the council, or girt on his sword for ^cd'r, these tempestuous workings of the soul | had left nd pcrceiMhle trace behind them. People who saw nothing of the gddly \ but their uncouth visages, and heard nothing from them | but their groans | and their ivliining hymns, might laugh at them. But those had little reason to laugh I who encountered them \ in the hall of debate | or in the field of battle. These fandtics \ brought to civil and military afi'airs ] a coolness of judgment \ and an immutability of ^^ur- 'pose I which some writers have thought | inconsistent with their religious zeal, but which were, in fact, the necessary effects of it. The intensity of their feelings on 6ne subject | made them trctnquil \ on every other. One overpdtvering sentiment \ had subjected to itself | pity and hatred, ambition and ffear. Death \ had lost its ter- rors, and |j/easz«'g | its chcirms. They had their smiles \ and their tears, their raptures j and their sorrov:s, but not \ for the things of this world. Enthusiasm [ had made them stoics, had cleared their minds from every vulgar passion and prejudice, and raised them above the influence of danger and of corruption. It sometimes might lead them to pur- sue unwise ends, but never to choose unwise means. They went through the world | like Sir Artegale's iron man Talus with his flail, crushing and trampling down oppressors, mingling with human brings, but having neitlier part nor lot | in kdm.an infirmities; insensible to fatigue, to pleasure, and to pain; not to be pierced by any weapon, not to be withstood by any hhrricr. MACAnLAY. 136 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 5. THE IIIGHT TO TAX AMERICA. " But, Mr. Speaker, we have a right to tax America." Oh, inestimable right ! Oh, ivunderfal, transcendent right ! the assertion of which has cost this country thirteen provinces, six \slands, one hundred thdusand lives, and seventy millions of mbncy ! Oh, invaluable right ! for the sake of which we have sacrificed our rank aiming nd,tions, our importance abroad, and our liappiness at home. Oh, right, more dear to us than our existence, which has already cost us so mucli, and which seems likely to cost us our all ! Infatuated man ! miserable and undone country ! not to know that the claim of riglit, without the power of enforcing it, is nugatory and idle. We have a right to tax America, the noble lord tells us, tlierefore we ought to tax America. This is the profound logic wliich comprises the whole cliain of his reasoning. Not inferior to this was the wisdom of him who resolved to shear the z^-o//. WMd — shear a wolf ! Have you considered the resistance, the difficulty, the danger, of the attempt ? NS, says the madman, T have considered nothing but the right. Man has a right of dominion over the beasts of the forest ; and, tlierefore, I will shear the wSlf. How vjonderful that a nation could be thus deluded, ! But the noble lord cUals in cheats and delusions. They are the daily trcijjic of his invention ; and he will con- tinue to play off his cheats on this house, so long as he thinks them necessary to his purpose, and so long as lie has money enough at command to bribe gentle- men to pretend that they believe him. But a black and bitter day of reckoning will surely cbme ; and whenever that day cdmcs, I trust I shall be able, l)y a parliamentary impeachment, to liring uj-ton the heads of the duthors of our calamities the punishment they deshrve. burke. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 137 Spake full well, in language quaint and olden, One who dwelleth by the castled RMne, When he called the fidiucrs, so blue and golden, SUirs, that in earth's firmament do shine. Stars they d.re, wherein we read our history. As astrologers and seers of eld ; Yet not so wrapped about with awful mystery, Like the burning stars which they beheld. "VVoudrous truths, and indnifold as ivondrous, God hath written in those stars above ; But not less \ in the bright flowerets under us | Stands the revelation of His love. Bright and glorious | is that revelation Writ all over this great icbrld of ours ; Making evident our own creation | In these stars of earth — these golden flowers. And the Poet, faithful and i'ar-sdeing. Sees, alike in stars and floioers, a part | Of the self-same, universal being. Which is throbbing | in his hrdin and hhirt. Gorgeous floiocrets in the sunlight shining ; Blossoms I flaunting in the eye of day ; Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining; Buds I that open | only to decay ! Brilliant hopes, all woven in gorgeous tissues, Flaunting gayly in the golden liglit ; Large desires, with most uncertain issues ; Tender wisJies \ blossoming at night ! These in flowers and men | are more than sdeming; Workings | are they [ of the self-same powers, 138 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Which the Poet, iu no idle dreaming, Seeth iu himself, and in the Jlhiccrs. Everywhere about us | are they glowing — Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born ; Others, their blue eyes [ with tears o'erflowing. Stand like Ruth \ amid the golden corn; Not alune j in Spring's armorial bearing, And in Summer's | green emblazoned field, But in arms | of brave old Autumn's wearing, In the center | of his brazen shield ; Not alone in meadows | and green alleys, On the mountain-top, and by the brink | Of sequestered pools | in woodland valleys, Where the slaves of nature j stoop to drink ; Not almie in her vast dome of glory, Not on graves of bird and heast alone, But on old cathedrals \ high and hoary, On the tomb of heroes, carved in stone; In the cottage of the rudest peasant, In ancestral homes, whose crumbling towers, Speaking of the Fast \ unto the Present, Tell us of the ancient Games of Flowers; In all places, then, and in all seasons. Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, Teaching us, l)y most persuasive reasons, How akin they are | to human things. And with child-like, credulous affection. We behold their tender buds expand ; Emblems of our own rprat resurrection. Emblems ] of the l)riglit | and better Idind. Longfellow. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 139 THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely lolayers: They have their exits and their entrances; And one mdn in his time plays many 'parts, His dels being seven ttges. At first, the Infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then, the whining Scliool-boy, with his satchel, And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then, the Lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a Soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pdrd, Jealous in libnor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputdtion Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the Justice, "With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern Instances; And so he plays liis part. The sixth age shifts Into tlie lean and slippered Pantaloon, With spectacles on ndse, and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly vdice, Turning again toward childish ti^eble, ^9^j^es And whistles in his sbund. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history. Is second childishness and mere oUlvion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans tdste, sans everything. Shakespeare. 8. T^TTRrAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. Not a drmn \ was heard, not a funeral nbte. As his corse | to the rdimpart \ we hurried ; Not a sbldier \ discliarged his farewell shbt O'er the ";rave I where our hero I we buried. 140 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. We buried liim darkly, at dead of night, The sods with our hiiyonets turning ; By the struggling moonbeam's misty light, And the lantern \ dimly burning. No useless cdjffin \ inclosed his breast, Not in sMet \ nor in shroud \ we wound him; But he lay | like a warrior taking his rest \ With his martial cloak \ around him. F^w and short | were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow, But we steadfastly gazed on the face of tlie dead, And we hiiterhj thought of the morrow. We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bdd, And smoothed down his louely pillow, That the foe and the stranger | would tread o'er his hdad, And w6 I far away on the billow ! Lirjhtly they '11 talk of the spirit that 's gone, And o'er his cold ashes | upbraid him, — But nothing he '11 reck, if they let him sleep on | In the grave | where a Briton \ has laid liim. But hb.lf I of our heavy task | was done | When the clock | struck tlie hour for retiring; And we heard the distant and random gun \ That the foe | was sullenly firing. Slowly and sadly | we laid him down. From the field of his fame | fresh and gory ; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone. But left him j alone witn his gioi}'. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 141 CHAPTER 11. FORCE AND STRESS. SECTION I. FORCE OF VOICE. 1. Force of utterance relates to the degree of loudness or intensity of voice. 2. The three main divisions of force are soft, moderate, and loud. These, for convenience, may be subdivided as follows : (1) Very soft (corresponding to pianissimo in music). (2) Soft {piano). (3) Moderate {mezzo-forte). (4) Loud {forte). (5) Very loud {fortissimo). 3. The general rule of force is, to read with an intensity appropriate to the thoughts or emotion to be expressed, and with a power or strength of voice sufficient to fill the room, so that every person in it may hear distinctly every word that is uttered. 4. Force of voice must be stronger in the school- room than in the parlor, and louder in the lecture-hall than in the school-room. If read to an assemblage of a thousand people, the most didactic and unimpassioned document must be read with considerable force. 5. Pupils should be cautioned against attempting any degree of force beyond the compass of their voices, and also against the conventional school-tone of loudness, which consists in raising the voice to so high a pitch that it grates on the ear like the filing of a saw. 6. " The command of all degrees of force of voice," says Prof Russell, " must evidently be essential to true 142 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. and natural expression, whether in reading or speaking. Appropriate utterance ranges through all stages of vocal sound, from the whisper of fear and the murmur of repose, to the boldest swell of vehement declamation, and the shout of triumphant courage. But to give forth any one of these or the intermediate tones, with just and impressive effect, tlie organs must be disciplined by appre])riate exercise and frequent practice. For every day's observation proves to us, that mere natural instinct and animal health, with all the aids of informing intel- lect, and inspiring emotion, and exciting circumstances, are not sufficient to produce the effects of eloc|uence, or even of adequate utterance. 7. " The overwhelming power of undisciplined feeling may not only impede but actually prevent the right action of the instruments of speech ; and the novice who has fondly dreamed, in his closet, that nothing more is required for effective expression than a genuine feeling, finds, to his discomfiture, that it is perhaps the very intensity of his feeling that hinders his utterance ; and it is not till experience and practice have done their work, that he learns the primary lesson, that force of emotion needs a practiced force of will to balance and regulate it, and a disciplined control over the organs to give it appropriate utterance. 8. " The want of due training for the exercise of jiulilic reading or s]")eaking is evinced in the habitual \indue loudness of some speakers, and the inadequate force of others — the former subjecting tlieir hearers to unnecessary pain, and the latter to disappointment and uneasiness. 9. " Force of utterance, however, has other claims on the attention of students of elocution, besides those which are involved in correct expression. It is, in its various gradations, the chief means of imparting strength to the vocal organs, and power to the voice itself. The due SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 143 practice of exercises in force of utterance, does for the voice what athletic exercise does for the muscles of the body : it imparts the two great conditions of power — vigor and pliancy." CAUTION. 10. In drill upon the following exercises, bear in mind the following direction from Prof Monroe : " Seek to make the sounds always smooth and musical ; and never lose sight of the fact that what is wanted in every-day use of the voice, in the school-room or elsewhere, is a pleasant and natural intonation. The practice of loud and sustained tones is an excellent means of improving the voice ; but is to be the exception, not the rule, iu ordinary reading. Still less should a shouting tone be used in conducting a recitation, or in the ordinary dis- cipline of a class. Yet the softest tone must be elastic and full of life, not dull and leaden." Concert Deill on Force. 1. Eepeat, three times, the long vocals, a, e, i, 6, li, (1) with soft force ; (2) with moderate force ; (3) with loud force. 2. Count from one to twenty with very soft force ; with soft force ; with moderate force ; with loud force ; with very loud force. 3. Repeat, five times, the w^ord " all," beginning with very soft force, and increasing the degree of forCe with each successive repetition of the word. 4. Eepeat the following with increased force on each successive repetition : " loud, louder, loudest." 5. Repeat, three times, e, a, a, a, 6, o, (1) with soft force ; (2) moderate force ; (3) loud force. 144 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. I. Very Soft Force. Verij soft force is appropriate to the expression of tenderness, sadness, or peaceful and tranquil feeling. EXAMPLES. 1. DllKlE. Softlji ! She is lying With her li})s apart. Softly! She is dying Of a broken heart. Wldsper! She is going To her final rest. Whisper ! Life is growing Dim within her breast. Eastman. Sweet and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow. Wind of the western sea ! Tennyson. ENOCH AUDEN. He therefore turning softly like a tliicf. Lest the harsh shingle should grate underfoot. And feeling all along the garden-wall, Lest he should swoon and tumble and be found, Crept to the gate, and opened it, and closed. As lightly as a sick man's chamber-door. Behind him, and came out upon the waste. And there he would have knelt, but that his knees Were feeble, so that falling prone he dug His fingers into the wet earth, and prayed. Tennyson. IL Soft or Subdued Force. Soft force differs from very soft only in degree. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 145 EX^VMPLES. 1. TIME. Touch us gently, Time ! Let us glide adown thy stream Gently, as we sometimes glide Through a quiet dream. Humble voyagers are we, O'er life's dim, unsounded sea, Seeking only some calm clime ; Touch us gently, Time ! babey coenwai.l. 2. DEATH OF THE OLD YEAR. Full knee-deep lies the winter-snow. And the wintry winds are wearily sighing, Toll ye the church-bell, sad and slow, And tread softly and speak low. For the old year lies a-dying. Old year, you must not die. tennyson. 3. THE DEATH-BED. We watched her breathing through the night. Her breathing soft and low, As in her breast the wave of life Kept heaving to and fro. Our very hopes belied our fears, Our fears our hopes belied — We thought her dying when she slept. And sleeping when she died. hood. 4. THE FAERIE QUEEN. Eftsoons they heard a most melodious sound Of all that might delight a dainty ear. Such as, at once, might not on living ground. Save in this paradise, be heard elsewhere : Eight hard it was for wight which did it hear 10 146 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. To weet what manner music that might be, For all that pleasing is to living ear Was there consorted in one harmony ; Birds, voices, instruments, winds, waters, all agree. Spenser. 5. the aksenal. Down the dark future, through long generations. The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease ; And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, I hear once more the voice of Christ say, "Peace!" Longfellow. 6. THE LOST CHORD. Seated one day at the organ, I was weary and ill at ease. And my fingers wandered idly Over the noisy keys. I do not know wliat I was playing. Or what I was dreaming then ; But I struck one chord of music. Like the sound of a great Amen ! It flooded the crimson twilight. Like tlie close of an angel's psalm. And it lay on my fevered spirit. With a touch of infinite calm. It quieted pain and sorrow, Like love overcoming strife ; It seemed tl)e harmonious echo From our discordant life. It linked all perplexed meanings Into one perfect peace. And trembled away into silence. As if it were loath to cease. Adelaide Proctor. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 147 III. Moderate Force. Moderate force is the prevailing tone in the reading of imimpassioned narrative, descriptive, or didactic com- position, in a small room, or to a small number of persons. It is the degree of force used in conversation. The characteristic quality of moderate force is "pure tone," and the stress. " unimpassioned radical." EXAMPI.ES. 1. There was a sound of revelry by night, 2. "What constitutes a state ? 3. Scrooge never painted out old Marley's name. 4. The history of England is emphatically the history of progress. 5. The eyes of men converse as much as their tongues. 6. Spake full well in language quaint and olden, One who dvvelleth by the castled Rhine, When he called the flowers, so blue and golden, Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine. 7. The way was long, the wind was cold, The minstrel was infirm and old. 8. I met a little cottage girl. She was eight years old, she said ; Her hair was thick with many a curl. That clustered round her head. 9. Blessings on thee, little man. Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan, With thy turned-up pantaloon, And thy merry whistled tune. 10. I wrote some lines once on a time In wondrous merry mood. And thought, as usual, men would say They were exceeding good. 148 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, They were so queer, so veiy queer, I laughed as I would die; Albeit, iu the general \vay, A sober man am I. 11. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Eevere, On the eighteenth of April, in seventy-five ; — Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. 12. Around I see the powers that be; I stand by Empire's primal springs ; And princes meet in every street, And hear the tread of uncrowned kings ! 13. Mrs. Siddons once had a pupil who was practicing for the stage. The lesson was upon the "part" of a young girl whose lover had deserted her. Tlie rendering did not please that Queen of Tragedy, and she said: "Think how you would feel under the circumstances. What would you do if your lover were to run off and leave you ? " "I would look out for another one," said that philosophic young lady ; and Mrs. Siddons, with a gesture of intense disgust, cried out, " Leave me ! " and would never give her another lesson. 14. READING AS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. We had rather have a child return to us from school a first-rate reader, than a first-rate performer on the piano-forte. We should feel that we had a far better pledge for tlie intelligence and talent of our child. The accomplishment, in its perfection, would give more pleasure. The voice of song is not sweeter than the voice of eloquence. And there may be eloquent readers, as well as eloquent speakers. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 149 IV. Loud Force. Loud force is the tone used to express courage, bold- ness, defiance, anger, grandeur, and sublimity. It is used by the public speaker in addressing a large audi- ence, or when speaking under the sway of strong emotion. This degree of force requires full and deep breathing, and a vigorous use of the vocal organs. The middle pitch is the appropriate key of loud force. A high pitch weakens the effect of forcible reading or declamation. exampi.es. 1. Joy ! Joy ! Shout, shout aloud for joy. 2. Hark to the brazen blare of the bugle ! Hark to the rolling clatter of the drums. 3. Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, for- ward, let us range ; Let the great world spin forever down the ring- ing grooves of change. 4. Alexander's feast. Now strike the golden lyre again; A louder yet, and yet a louder strain. Break his bands of sleep asunder. And rouse him, like a rattling peal of thunder. Dbyden. 5. REVENGE. And longer had she sung — but, with a frown, Eevenge impatient rose. He threw his blood-stained sword in thunder down, And, with a withering look. The war-denouncing trumpet took, And blew a blast, so loud and dread. Were ne'er prophetic sounds so full of woe : And ever and anon, he beat The doubling drum with furious heat. collins. 150 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 6. Hilton's "paradise lost." Now storming fury rose, And clamor such as beard in heaven till n6io Was n^ver ; arms on armor clashing, brayed Horrible discord, and the madding wheels Of brazen chariots raged : dire was the noise Of conflict; overhead the dismal hiss Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew, And flying vaulted either host with fire. So under fiery cope, together rushed £dth battles main, with ruinous assdult And inextinguishable rage. All heaven Eesounded ; and had earth been then, all ^arth, Had to her center shook. AVhat wonder .? where Millions of fierce encountering angels fought On Either side, the least of whom could wield These elements, and arm him with the force Of all their regions. 7. THE BELLS. Hear the loud cdarnrn bells — Brazen bells ! "What a tale of terror, now, their turbuleucy tells ! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright ! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In the clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation witli the deaf and frantic fire Leaping higher, higher, lllGHLR, With a desperate desire. And a resolute endeavor, Novj, now to sit or never By the side of the pale-faced moon ! pqe. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 151 V. Very Loud or Declamatory Force. Very loud force prevails in oratorical declamation before large audiences. It is also heard iu the tones of anger, of passion, of command, in calling or shouting, and in intensely dramatic reading. EXAaiPtES. 1. Now for the fight ! now for the cannon peal. Forward ! through blood and toil, and cloud, and fire! Glorious the shout, the shock, the crash of steel, The volley's roll, the rocket's blasting spire. 2. To arms ! they come ! the Grfeek ! the Grfeek ! 3. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead. 4. Thy threats, thy mercy I deff/, I give thee in thy teeth the lie. 5. He raised a shout as he drew on Till all the welkin rang again : "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" 6. From every hill, by every sea. In shouts proclaim the great decree, "All chains are hurst, cdl men are free! ^^ Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah ! 7. SPARTACUS TO THE GLADIATORS. [Radical and vanishing stress, and strongly marked circumflex in' flections.] Ye stand here now like giants, as ye hre. The strength of brass is in your tougliened sineivs ; but to-morrow some Pioman Adonis, breathing sweet perfume from his curly locks, shall with his lily fingers pdt your red hrdwn, and bet his sesterces upon your blood. Hark ! hear ye yon lion roaring in his den ? 'T is three days since he tasted fesh ; but to-morrow he shall break his 152 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. fast upon yoilrs, and a dainty meal for him ye will he. If ye are beasts, then stand here like fat oxen, waiting for the hitchcr's hil/e ! If ye are inln, follow me ! Strike down yon guard, gain the mountain passes, and thhc do bloody ivbrJx, as did your sires at old Ther- mbpyla: ! Is Sparta dead ? Is the old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash ? Oh, com- rades ! wdrriors ! Thrdcians ! if we must fight, let us figlit for ourselves ! If we must slaughter, let us slaughter our opp)ressors ! If we must die, let it be under the clear sky, by the bright tvatcrs, in noble, honorable OatllfC. Kellogg. 8. Catiline's defianxe. Conscript fathers, I do not rise to waste the night in wdrds : Let that jj/c&cwmi talk ; 't is not my trade j But here I stand for right! — Let him show proofs! For Roman right ; though none, it seems, dare stand To take their share with me. Ay, cluster thfere ! Cling to your master, judges, Eomans, sldvcs ! His charge is fdlsc. I dare him to his proofs. Crolv. 9. IIICIIELIEU. Who spake of life ? I bade thee grasp tliat treasure as thine honor — A jeivel worth whole hecaiomhs of lives ! Begone! redeem thine honor! Back to Marion — Or Bdradas — or Orleans — track the robber — Begdin the packet — or crawl on to age — Age and gray lidirs like mine — and know tliou 'st lost That which had made thee great and saved thy country. See me nut till thou 'st bought tlie right to seek me. Aiudy ! Nay, chkr thee ! thou hast not fail'd yet — There 's no such vj6rd as fail. bulwek. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. ' 153 10. FREEDOM. 8. If I could stand for a moment upon one of your hio-h mountain tops, far above all the kingdoms of the civilized world, and there might s^e, coming up, one after another, the bravest and wisest of the ancient warriors, and statesmen, and kings, and monarchs, and priests ; and if, as they came up, I might be permitted to ask from them an expression of opinion upon such a case as this, with a common voice and in thunder tones, reverberating through a thousand valleys, and echoing down the ages, they would cry : " lAherty, Freedom, the Universal Brotherhood of Man T' /join that shout; I swell that anthem ; I echo that praise forever, and for evermore. 11. THE WAR INEVITABLE. They tell us, sir, that we are weah — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next iveek, or the next year ? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house ? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction ? Shall we acquire the means of effectual | resistance by lying supinely on our hacks, and hugging the delu.sive phantom of hope, until our enemies siiall have bound us hdnd and foot ? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. It is in vain, sir, to extenu- ate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace ! — but there is no peace. The war is actually hegHn I The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding cirms ! Our hrethren are already in tlie fifeld ! Why stand we here Idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish ? Wliat Nvould tliey have ? Is life so dear, or peace so sirM, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty 154 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. God ! I know not what course otliers may take ; but as for m^, give me liberty, or give me death ! Patrick Hekry. VI. Recapitulation of Force. 1. Force must he regulated hy the thought or feeling to he expressed. 2. Soft force prevails in the expression of peaceful thought, of sentiment, of tra7iquillity, and of suppressed emotion. 3. Moderate force is the natural tone of conversation and of narrative, descriptive, and didactic composition. 4. Loiul force prevails in the expression of anger, pas- sion, sublimity, comma^id, and strong feeling. 5. Very loud force prevails in calling and shouting; in cries of alarm, fear, and terror ; and in intense dra- matic expression. Examples of Force. VERY SOFT. Low, low, breathe and blow, wind of tlie western sea. SOFT. How sweet the moonlight sleeps u})on this bank. MODERATE. Marley was dead, to begin with. LOUD. Hear the loud alarum bells — brazen bells ! How they clang, and clash, and roar. VERY LOUD. Liberty ! freedom ! Tyranny is dead. Require each pupil to select, write out, and read in tlie class, a similar set of quoted illustrations. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 155 SECTION 11. STRESS OF VOICE. Stress denotes the manner of applying volume of voice to single words or sounds. The elocutionary divisions of stress are : 1. Radical > 4. Thorough = 2. Median <> 5. Compound X 3. Vanishing ^ 6. Intermittent .^^i:^::^ The radical and the median stress are the most im- portant and the most used of these divisions ; and to these the attention of school readers should be chiefly directed. The other forms of stress mainly concern the special elocutionist or the actor; and may, therefore, be treated very briefly. I. EADICAL STEESS. 1. In radical stress, the force strikes abruptly upon the radix, or beginning of a word or a sound. It cor- responds to the diininuendo in music. 2. It may be illustrated by exploding the full force of the voice upon the initial vowel in the following words : (1) ale, arm, all, old, ooze. (2) at, end, in, on, iip. 3. Of this stress. Dr. Eush says : " There are so few speakers able to give a radical stress with this moment- ary burst, and therefore so few who may comprehend the mere description of it, that I must draw an illus- tration from the effort of coughing. A single impulse of coughing is not in all points exactly like the abrupt voice on syllables, for that single impulse is a forcing out of almost all the breath, which is not the case in syllabic utterance ; yet if the tonic element be employed as tlie vocality of coughing, its abrupt opening will truly represent the function of radical stress, when used in discourse. 156 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. "It is this stress which draws tlie cutting edge of words across the ear, and startles even stupor into atten- tion ; this, which lessens the fatigue of listening, and out-voices the murmur and unruly stir of an assembly ; and a sensibility to this, through a general instinct of the animal ear, whicli gives authority to the groom, and makes the horse submissive to his angry accent. 5. " Besides the fullness, loudness, and abruptness of the radical stress, when employed for distinct articula- tion, the tonic sound itself should be a pure vocality. When mixed with aspiration, it loses the brilliancy that serves to increase the impressive effect of the explosive force." Distinctions of Eadical Stress. 1. Kadical stress may be distinguished as unimpas- sioned and imiMssioned. 2. The unimpassioned radical is used in narrative, descriptive, and didactic reading, to give a clear, dis- tinct, energetic style of expression. The impassioned radical is the strong, full, abrupt utterance which char- acterizes the voice when under the inlhience of strong passions, such as anger, hatred, etc. It is the stress of authoritative command, of strength, and of power. I. The Unimpassioned Eadical. This form of the radical stress is generally combined with moderate force and middh; ]iitch. In tlie unim- passioned I'adical the vowel and liquid sounds are cut sliort as in the staccato movement in music. Tiiis stress is characteristic of vivacity, gayety, humor, and of clear, distinct, and definite statement. Unimpassioned Eadical Drill. 1. Repeat rapidly four times, with the f.dling iuflec- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 157 tion, the short vowel sounds, a, c, i, o, ii; the long vocals, a, e, I, o, u. 2. Count from one to twenty with moderate force and falling inflection, cutting short the words as in staccato movement. 3. Is this a time to be gloomy and sad, When our mother nature laughs around ? When even the deep blue heavens look glad, And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground ? 4. Hear the sledges, with the bells — silver bells, What a world of merriment their melody foretells ; How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night ! Examples of Unimpassioned Eadical, 1. Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-Unk, Spink, spank, spink; Chee ! chee ! chee ! 2. Sometimes, with secure delight, The upland hamlets will invite. When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecs sound To many a youth and many a maid, Dancing in the checkered shade. 3. IIUDIBKAS. In matliematics he was greater Thau Tycho Brahe or Erra Pater; For he, by geometric scale. Could take the size of pots of ale ; Eesolve by sines and tangents, straight, If bread or butter wanted weiglit ; And wisely tell what hour o' th' day The clock does strike, by algebra. 158 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. nilYME OF THE KAIL. Singing through the forest-s, liattling over ridges, Shooting under arches, Rumbling over bridges; Whizzing through the mountains, Buzzing o'er the vale — Bless me ! this is pleasant, Eiding on the rail! 5. SUMMER. There's a dance of leaves in that aspen hbvjer, There's a titter of idlnds in that beecheu tree, There 's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower. And a lawjli from the hruok that runs to the sea ! Bryant. 6. SUMMER. And what is so rare as a day in June ? Then, if ever, come perfect days ; Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune. And over it softly her warm ear lays ; Whether we look or M-hether we listen, We hear life murnmr or see it glisten ; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers. Lowell. 7. SEA-WEEI). When descends on the Atlantic The gigantic Storm-wiiul of the equinox, Landward in his wratli he scourges The toiling surges, Laden with sea-weed from the rocks SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 159 Ever drifting, drifting, drifting On the shining Currents of the restless main ; Till in sheltered coves, and reaches Of sandy beaches. All have found repose again. Longfellow. 8. THE DRUM. At a distance, down the street, making music with their feet. Came the soldiers from the wars, all embellished with their scars, To the tapping of a drum, of a drum ; To the pounding and the sounding of a drum ! Of a drum, of a drum, of a drum ! drum, drum, drum ! 9. COMPENSATION. Experienced men of the world know very well that it is best to pay scot and lot as they go along, and that a man often pays dear for a small frugality. The bor- rower runs in his own debt. Has a man gained any- thing who has received a hundred favors and rendered none ? Has he gained by borrowing, through indolence or cunning, his neighbor's wares, or horses, or money ? There arises on the deed the instant acknowledgment of benefit on the one part, and of debt on the other; that is, of superiority and inferiority. The transaction remains in the memory of himself and his neighbor; and every new transaction alters, according to its nature, their relation to each other. He may soon come to see that he had better have broken his own bones than to have ridden in his neighbor's coach, and that " the highest price he can pay for a thing is to ask for it." Emerson. IGO SCHOOL ELOCUTION. . IT. The Impassioned Radical. 1. The impassioned radical stress falls on the ear with abrupt, explosive force, like the beat of a bass drum. A good illustration of extreme radical stress is afforded by loud, explosive laughter. 2. The impassioned radical marks positive assertion, strong determination, and authoritative command. It is the abrupt stress of courage, boldness, anger, and hatred. 3. The absence of radical stress, so common in un- trained readers and speakers, indicates feebleness, inde- cision, and confusion or timidity. A lack of radical stress may kill the most impressive sentiments, or may transform a gay, joyous, lively piece of composition into dull, joyless, or even melancholy expression. 4. Carried to excess, however, the radical stress be- comes the mark of egotism, dogmatism, and undue self- assertion. It often characterizes the rant of the stump sj)caker who "tears a passion into tatters." 5. There is little tendency in school to excess of radical stress : on the contrary, there is generally a lack of it. Impassioned Radical Stress Drill. 1. Repeat, three times, with abrupt, explosive force, the long vocals, a, e, i, 5, ii. 2. Repeat, in the same manner, the following : ale, arm, all, ooze. 3. Repeat, four times, with explosive laughter: ha! ha ! ha ! ho ! ho ! ho ! haw ! haw ! haw ! 4. Tramp, tramj:), tramp, the boys are marching. 5. Awalcc! arise! or be forever fallen! 6. Up, drclwhridffe, groom, what, warder, hb! Let the 2^ortcullis falh SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 161 7. To arms! to arms! to arms! they cry, 8. Shoulder arms! forward march! halt! Eight about face, march ! 9. Hold ! hold ! for ^'•our lives ! 10. Back to thy punishment, false fugitive. 11. He was struck, struck like a clog. 12. Up ! comrades, up ! in Eokeby's halls Ne'er be it said our courage falls. 13. Send out more horses ! skirr the country round. Awake ! Awake ! 14. Eing the alarum bell ! Murder and treason ! Malcolm ! awake ! Malcolm ! Banquo ! 15. THE CLANSMAN TO HIS CHIEF. "Maeldine! you've scourged me like a hbund ; — You should have striick me to the ground. You should have played a chief tains part; — You should have stabbed me to the heart. "You should have crushed me unto cUath; But here I sv)cdr with living breath, That for this wrong which you have done, I '11 wreak my vengeance on your son. " I scSrn forgiveness, haughty man ! You 've hij'ured me before the clan ; And naught but blood shall wipe away The shame I have endured to-day." mackat. 16. ALEXANDRA. Welcome her, thunders of fort and of flfeet ! Welcome her, thundering cheer of the street ! Welcome her, all things useful and swfeet ; Scatter the blbssoms under her ffeet ! Brfeak, happy Iknd, into earlier flowers ! Make music, bird, in the new budded bowers ! 11 162 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Blazon your mottoes ] of blessing and prayer! Welcome her, welcome her, all that is ours ! AVarble, bugle ; and trumpet, blkre ! Flags, flutter out | upon turrets and towers ! Flames, on the windy headland flare !' Utter your jubilee, steeple and sjnre ! Clash, ye hells, in the merry March ^ir! FldsJi, ye cities, in rivers of fire ! Eush to the roof, sudden rocket, and higher | Melt into the stars for the land's desire! TeNNYSON. 17. THE OLD CONTINENTALS. And grummer, grummcr, grummer, Rolled the roll of the drummer, * Through tlie morn ! And louder, louder, louder, Cracked the loud gunpowder, ■ Cracked amain ! Then higher, higher, higher. Burned tlie old-fashioned fire Through the ranks ! And rounder, ROUNDER, EOUNDER, Boared the iron six^ounder, Hurling death I IS. THE BRAZEN BELLS. Hear the loud alarum bells, — Brazen bells ! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells ! In the startled ear of niglit How tliey scream out tlieir affright ! Too much liorrificd to speak, Tliey can only shriek, shriek, Out of tunc, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 163 In the clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire. In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now — noto to sit or never. By the side of the pale-face moon. O the bells, bells, bells, What a tale their terror tells Of despair ! How they clang and clash and roar ! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air ! Yet the ear, it fully knows. By the twanging And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows; Yet the ear distinctly tells. In the jangling And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells. By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells — Of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells, bells. Bells, bells, bells— In the clamor and clangor of the bells ! poe. 19. INDEPENDENCE. Bead this Declaration | at the head of the tirmy: every sivbrd \ will be drawn from its scabharcl, and the solemn vow ] uttered, to maintdin it, or to perish \ on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pillpit ; religion | will apjirdve it, and the love of religious liberty \ will cling round it, resolved | to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the public hhlls ; proclaim it there ; let tlicm I hear it, who heard the first roar | of the enemy's 164 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. cdnnon ; let thhn \ see it, who saw their hrothers and their s6ns \ fall ou the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lhxington and Cbncord, and the very ludlls \ will cry out | in its SUppbrt. Webster. 20. FREEDOM. Many years long gone, I took my stand by Frh- dorii, and where \ in my earliest youth | my feet \ were planted, there \ my wdnkood \ and my age shall march. And for one, I am not ashdmed of Freedom. I know her iihwer. I irjoice \ in her mhjesty. I icdlk \ beneath her hiinner. I gl<^ry \ in her strength. I have seen Free- dom I ill history, again and agitin ; with mine own eyes \ I have watched her | again and again | struck ddwn I on a hundi-ed chosen fields of hhttle. I have seen her frie^nds \ fly frhm her ; I have seen f6es I gather round her; I have seen them | hind her to the stdke ; I have seen them give her dsMs to the winds — regdthering them again | that they might scatter them I yet more widely ; but when her foes | turned to exult, I have seen her aghin \ meet them | face to fhce, resplendent in complete steel, and brandishing | in her strong right hand \ a flaming sword, red with insiiffer- able light. And I take cburage. The plople \ gatlier round her. The Genius of America \ will at last | lead her s6ns to Frhdom. Bakeu. 21. rEHORATIDN OF BUZFUZ : — BARBELL 17,9. PICKWICK. [The follounnq is an example of the bombastic style of ranting oratory, which is a burlesque of trite art.] Of this man I will say little. The subject presents but few attractions ; and /, gentlemen, am not the miin, nor are you, gentlemen, the m^n, to delight in the con- templation of revolting heartlessness, and of systematic vlllany. I say systemdtic villany, gentlemen; and when SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 165 I say systemdtic villainy, let me tell the defendant Pick- wick, if he be in court, as I am informed he is, that it would have been more decent in him, more becoming, if he had stopped away. Let me tell him, further, that a counsel, in the discharge of his duty, is neither to be intimidated, nor bullied, nor put dbion ; and that any attempt to do either the one or the other will recoil on the head of the attdmpter, be he ^;Zfti?ih[^ or be he de- fendant, be his name Pickwick, or Noakes, or Stoakes, or Stiles, or Brown, or Thompson. But Pickwick, gentlemen, Pickwick, the ruthless de- stroyer of this domestic oasis in the desert of Goswell street, — Pickwick, who has choked up the well, and thrown ashes on the sward, — Pickwick, who comes before you to-day with his heartless tomato-sauce and warm- ing-pans, — Pickwick, still rears his head with unblush- ing effrontery, and gazes without a sigh on the riiin he has made ! Damages, gentlemen, heavy damages, is the only punishment with which you can visit him, — the only recompense you can award to my client ! And for those damages she now appeals to an enlightened, a higJi- mhidcd, a r%cjht feeling , a eonscientious, a dispcissionate, a sympathizing, a conthiiplative jury of her civilized eountry- mcn ! Dickens. II. MEDIAN STRESS. 1. The median stress corresponds to the "swell" in music. It is strongest in the middle of a sound or a word. It is adapted to the expression of harmonious and poetic ideas. 2. " It is," says liussell, " the natural utterance of those emotions which allow the intermingling of reflection and sentiment with expression, and which purposely dwell on sound, as a means of enhancing their effect. 3. " This mode of stress is one of the most important 166 SCHOOL ELOCUTIOX. iu its effect on language, whether in the form of speak- ing OT of reading. Destitute of its ennobling and ex- pansive sound, the recitation of poetry sinks into the style of dry prose, the language of devotion loses its sacredness, the tones of oratory lose their power over the heart. 4. " There is great danger, however, of this natural beauty of vocal expression being converted into a fault by being overdone. The habit recognized under the name of mouthing has an excessively increased and prolonged median swell for one of its chief characteristics. In this shape, it becomes a great deformity in utterance, — particularly when combined with what is no infrequent concomitant, the faulty mode of voice known as chant- ing or singing. Like sweetness among savors, this truly agreeable quality of sound becomes distasteful or dis- gusting when in the least degree excessive. 5. " The practice of median stress, therefore, requires very close attention. The spirit of poetry and the lan- guage of eloquence, — the highest effects of human ut- terance, — render it indispensable as an accomplishment in elocution. But a chaste and discriminating ear is requisite to decide the just degree of its extent. G. "Median stress has tlie form of effusive utterance in sublime, solemn, and ^^ft^At'fft'c emotions : it becomes exjDulsive, in those which combine force witli grandeur, as in admiration, courage, autlioi'itative comma,nd, indig- nation, and similar feelings. But its effect is utterly in- compatible with the al>ruptness of explosion. Its com- paratively musical character adapts it, with special felicity of effect, to the melody of verse, and the natural swell of poetic expression." 7. Median stress requires a prolongation of vowel and liquid sounds; it is a contrast to tlie abruptness of the radical stress. It prevails in combination with "pure tone" and the "orotund." school elocution. 167 Median Stkess Dkill. 1. Repeat, three times, the long vocals, a, e, i, 5, u : (1) With moderate force ami effusive median stress. (2) With expulsive median stress. (3) With increased force and expulsive median stress. 2. In the same manner repeat, four times, the vocals, e, a, a, a, o, o. 3. Count from one to twenty, with soft force and effusive median stress ; with loud force and expulsive median stress. 4 liepeat, three times, the following words with ex- pulsive median stress : all, call, ball, tall, hall, pall. 5. Eepeat four times, in monotone, with full swell on the prolonged /, the following : bells, bells, bells, bells, bells. Examples of Median Stress. 1. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll! 2. Ye winds, ye unseen currents of the air. Softly ye played a few brief hours ago. 3. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. 4. Hail ! holy light, offspring of heaven, first-born. 5. The rivers, lakes, and ocean, all stood still. 6. Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain. 7. Was it the chime of a tiny bell That came so sweet to my dreaming ear ? Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell That he winds on the beach, so mellow and clear. 8. Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow. 168 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 9. Lord, thou art clothed with honor and majesty. 10. And where her sweetest theme she chose, A soft, responsive voice was heard at every close, And Hope, enchanted, smiled and waved her golden hair. 11. These are thy glorious works, parent of good. Almighty ! Thine this universal frame. 12. Then the angel threw up his glorious hands to the heaven of heavens, saying : " End is there none to the universe of God. Lo ! also, there is no beginning." 13. Peal out evermore, Peal as ye pealed of yore. Brave old bells, on each Sabbath day. 14. I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet. The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 15. Thou, too, sail on, Ship of State ! Sail on, Union, strong and great ! 16. These struggling tides of life that seem In wayward, aimless course to tend, Are eddies of the mighty stream That rolls to its appointed end. bryant. 17. From the wall into the sky. From the roof along the spire : Ah, the souls of those that die Are but sunbeams lifted higher. Longfellow. 18. So shall our voice of sovereign choice Swell the deep bass of duty done, And strike the key of time to be, "When God and man shall speak as one ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 169 19. Ah, distinctly I retnember, it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow : vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Leuore — For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore. poe. 20. Babie, dainty Babie Bell, How fair she grew from day to day ! What woman-nature filled her eyes — What poetry within them lay ! Those deep and tender twilight eyes. So full of meaning, pure and bright, As if she yet stood in the light Of those oped gates of Paradise. aldrich. 21. Tlie splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes. And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow ; set the wild echoes flying ; Blow, bugle ; answer, echoes — dying, dying, dying. Tenntsou. 22. By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled. Here once the embattled farmers stood. And fired the sliot heard round the ivorld. Emerson. 23. Down the dark future, through long generations, The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease ; And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, I hear once more the voice of Christ say, "Peace 1" 170 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Peace ! and no longer from its brazen portals The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies ! But beautiful as songs of the immortals, The holy melodies of love arise. lon-giellow. 24. Youth longs and manhood strives, but age remem- bers — Sits by the raked-up ashes of the past; Spreads its thin hands above the whitening embers That warm its creeping life-blood till the last. But my gentle sisters ! my brothers ! These thick-sown snow-flakes hint of tod's release; These feebler pulses bid me leave to others The tasks once welcome — evening asks for peace. Time claims his tribute ; silence now is golden ; Let me not vex the too long-suffering lyre ; Though to your love untiring still beholden, Tlie curfew tells me — cover up the fire. holmes. 25. 0, a M'onderl'ul stream is the river Time, As it runs through the realm of tears. With a faultless rhythm and a musical rhyme, And a boundless sweep and surge sublime, As it blends with the Ocean of Years. taylob. 26. THE WEDDING BELLS. \_Read this stanza with pure tone, middle pitch, slow viovemcnt, and orotund quality.] Hear the mellow wMdiiig-hi'lh — gulden bells ! What a world of happiness their liarmony foretells ! Through tlic balmy air of night, how they riny out their delight ! Fi-om the molten-golden notes. All in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 171 Oh, from out the sounding cdlls, "'\''hat a gush of euphony voluminously wfells ! How it swells, how it dwells On the Future ! How it tells of the rapture that impels To the swintjjing and the ringing of the bells, bells, bells, O O O O 7 7 7 Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells — To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells. poe. 27. INVOCATION TO LIGHT. [Read the following selection with orotund quality, slow movement, and strong force.'] 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 unapproachdd light. Dwelt from eternity — dwelt then in thee, Bright effluence of bright Essence increate ! Or hear'st thou, ratlier, pure ethereal stream, Whose fountain who shall tell ? — Before the sun, Before the heavens thou wert, and, at the voice Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest The rising world of waters, dark and deep. Won from the void and formless infinite. milton. 28. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 1. The liberty of the press is tlie highest safeguard to all free government. Ours could not exist without it. It is like a great, exulting, and abounding river. It is fed by the dews of heaven, which distill their sweetest drops to form it. It gushes from the rill, as it breaks from the deep caverns of the earth. It is augmented by a thousand affluents, that dash from the mountain top, to separate again into a thousand boun- teous and irrigating streams around. 2. On its broad bosom it bears a thousand barks. There genius spreads its purpling sail. There poetry dips its silver oar. There art, invention, discovery, 172 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. science, morality, religion, may safely and securely float. It wanders through every land. It is a genial, cordial source of thought and inspiration, whatever it touches, whatever it surrouiids. Upon its borders there grows every flower of grace, and every fruit of truth. baker. 29. FROM THE BOOK OF P.SALMS. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Lord my God, Thou art very great ; Thou art clothed Vv'ith honor and majesty : who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain ; who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds His chariot ; who walketh upon the wings of the wind; who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever. 30. OSSIAX'S ADDRESS TO THE SUN. O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers ! whence are thy beams, O sun ! thy everlasting light ? Tliou comest forth in thy awful beauty ; the stars hide tliemselves in the sky ; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in tlie western wave. But tliou thyself movest alone : who can be a companion of thy course ? IIL VANISHING STRESS. 1. Tlie vanishing or terminal stress is used when the force of voice hangs upon the final part of a word. It corresponds to the crescendo in music. It is a form of stress expressive of very strong emphasis, and is often combined with the rising or falling circumflex. 2. Used with a moderate degree of force, this stress is applied in the expression of petulance, of peevish- ness, of impatience, of willfulness, and of querulous complaint ; combined with strong force, it is applied to express persistent determination, astonishment, amaze- ment, and horror. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 173 3. Concerning the use of this stress, Prof. Russell remarks : " Like all other forms of impassioned utter- ance which are strongly marked in the usages of natural habit, this property of voice is indispensable to appropri- ate elocution, whether in speaking or reading. Without 'vanishing stress,' declamation will sometimes lose its manly energy of determined will, and become feeble song to the ear. High-wrought resolution can never be ex- pressed without it. Even the language of protest, though respectful in form, needs the aid of the right degree of vanishing stress, to intimate its sincerity and its firm- ness of determination, as well as its depth of conviction. 4. " But when we extend our views to the demands of lyric and dramatic poetry, in which high-wrought emotion is so abundant an element of effect, the full command of this property of voice, as the natural utter- ance of extreme passion, becomes indispensable to true, natural, and appropriate style." EXAMPLES. [The italicized words have the vanishing stress, and are marked vnth tJie circumflex inflection.] 1. I know we do not mean to submit. We never shdll submit. 2. Earth may hide, waves engulf, fire consume us. But they shdll not to sldvcry doom us. 3. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: I'll have my bond: and therefore speak no more. 4. But they shdll go to school. Do n't tell me they shouldn't. (You are so dgfiravating. Caudle, you'd spoil the temper of an dngel !) They shdll go to school : mark that ! and if they get their dmths of cold, it 's not my fault ; / did nH lend the umbrllla. 5. " Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend" I shrieked, upstarting ; 174 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. "Get thee hack into the tempest, and the night's Phitonian shore ! Leave no black phuue as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken ! Leave my loneliness uribrhken ! qitU the bust above my dbor ! Take thy heak from out my hmrt, and take thy form from off my door ! " Quoth the Eaven, "Nevermore." 6. FROM GKATTAN'S SPEECH. Here I stand for impeachment or trial. I ddre accu- sation ! I defy the honorable gentleman ! I defy the government ! I defy their whole phalanx ! Let them come forth ! 7. FROM WEB-^iTER. On such occasions, I will place myself on the extreme boundary of my right, and bid defiance to the arm that would push me i'rom it. 8. THE Seminole's reply. I loathe ye in my bosom, I scorn ye with mine eye, I '11 tauut ye with my latest breath, And ftght ye till I die. patten. 9. RIEXZI. I come not here to talk. Ye know too well The story of our thrdlldom. We are slaves ! The bright sun rises to his course and liglits A race of slaves ! He sets, and his last beam Fdlls on a slave. mitiord. 10. RRUTUS TO CASSIUS. Fret, till your proud heart brchk ; Go, show your slaves how choleric you are, And make your liuiulsnifu tremble. Must /budge? SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 175 Must / observe you ? Must I stand and crouch Under youi- testy humor ? By the gods, You shall digest the venom of your spleen, Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, I '11 use you for my mirth, yea, for my Idughter, When you are tvdsjnsh. shakespeabbl IV. THOEOUGH STEESS. Thorough or through stress corresponds to the organ tone in music. Tlie force is powerful enough to per- vade an entire word or sound — the beginning, the middle, and the end. It is indicated thus: ( = ). Thorough stress prevails in vehement declamation and impassioned oratory when the speaker is under the sway of intense excitement. It is also used in calling or shouting, when the voice is rolled out in a full and steady, stream. Carried to excess, this stress is characteristic of rant, bombast, and the worst faults of untrained speakers. EXAMPLES. 1. Vanguard ! to right and left the front unfold. 2. Peal ! peal ! peal ! Bells of brass and bells of steel. 3. "To all the truth we tell! we tell!" Shouted in ecstasies a bell. 4. And like a silver clarion rung, " Excelsior." 5. Advance your standards ! draw your willing swords. 6. Forward the light brigade ! 7. Clang ! clang ! clang ! the massive anvils rang. 8. "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!" shouted the captain. 9. Shoulder — arms ! i^orward march ! Halt ! 176 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 10. Cliargc for the guus ! Charge I Charge / 11. Then rose the awful cry, " Fire ! fire ! fire ! " 12. Halloo! ho-o-o-o! come here! Halloo! 13. Hurrah! hurrah! for the fiery fort is ours; Victory ! Victory ! Victory I 14. Liberty ! freedom ! Tyranny is dead ; Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets ! 15. Rejoice, ye men of Anglers ! ring your bells ; King John, your king and England's, doth approach. Open your gates, and give the victors way ! 16. "0, spare my child, my joy, my pride! 0, give me hack my child!" she cried; "My child ! my child ! " with sobs and tears, She shrieked upon his callous ears. 17. "Nine," by the cathedral clock! Chill the air with rising damps ; Drearily from block to block In the gloom the bell-man tramps — " Child lost ! Child lost ! Blue eyes, curly hair. Pink dress — child lost ! " 18. Body of turkey, head of owl, Wings a-droop like a rained-on fowl, Feathered and rullied in every part. Skipper Ireson stood in tlie cart. Scores of women, old and young, Strong of muscle, and glib of tongue, Pushed and pulled up the rocky lane, Shouting and singing the shrill refrain : " Here 's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd Jwrrt, Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd, in a corrt. By the women o' MorUe'ead ! " SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 177 19. FITZ-JAMES'S DEFIANCE. Come 6nc, come (ill ! this 7'bck shall fly From its firm base as soon as 1. scon. 20. THE AMERICAN FLAG. Flag of the free heart's hojje and home ! By angel hands | to valor given ; Thy stars | have lit the welkin ddme. And all thy hues \ were born in heaven. Forever float | that standard sheet ! ' Where breathes the f6e \ but falls hefore us, "With Freedom's soil \ beneath our feet, And Freedom's hdmicr \ streaming o'er us I Drake. 21. MOLOCH. He called so loud, that all the hollow deep Of hell resounded. " Princes ! Potentates ! Wd,rriors ! the flower of heaven, once yours, now lost, If such astonishment as tins can seize | Eterncd spirits; or have ye chosen this place To rest your wearied virtue, for the ease \ ye find | To slumber here, as in the vales of heaven ? Or I in this ahject 2y<^sture | have you sworn | To adbre the Conqueror, who now beholds | Cherub and seraph | rolling in the flood, With scattered arms and ensigns; till, anon, His swift pursuers, from heaven's gates | discern | The advantage, and descending, tread us dbion | Thus drbojnng ; or with linked thunderbolts \ Tramflx us to | the bottom of this gulf ? Awake I arise ! or be forever fhllen ! " milton. 22. PEUORATION OF WEBSTER's REPLY TO HATNE. The scene in the Senate Chamber of the United States, as "Web- ster delivered this peroration, is thus described by C. "W. March: The exultincr rush of feeling with which he went through the 12 1/8 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. peroration threw a glow over his countenance, like inspiration — eye, brow, each feature, every line of his face seemed touched as with a celestial fire. The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the spell-bound audience, in deep and melodious cadence, as waves upon the shore of the far-sounding sea. The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his thought and raised his hearers up to his theme. His voice, exerted to its utmost power, penetrated ever}' recess and corner of the Senate — penetrated even the ante-rooms and stair-ways, as he pronounced in the deepest tones of pathos these words of solemn significance : I have not allowed myself, sir, to look hcyond the Union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess hclnncl. I have not coolly weighed the chances of pre- serving lihcrty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the ahyss below ; nor could I regard him as a safe edunselor in the afiairs of this gdvernment whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condi- tion of the people when it shall be bruhcn 7ip and destrbijed. While the Union lasts, M'e have high, excit- ing, griitifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond tlidt I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day at least, that cur- tain may not r\sc ! Gbd grant that on my vision never may be opened icliat lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I nbt see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Uiiion'; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering yldnec, rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now knoivn and honored throughout the Sarth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their orighiol Ulster, not a SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 179 stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured; bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrdgatory as " What is all this tuorth .? " nor those other words of delusion and folly, " Liberty first, and Union dfter- luards ; hut everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light. Mazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the Icind, and in every ivind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart — Liberty and Union, now said forever, one and inseparahle. 23. PERORATION OF BURKE's SPEKCH ON THE IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS. Of this famous speecli Macaulay says : " The energy and pathos of the great orator extorted expressions of unwonted admiration from all ; and, for a moment, seemed to pierce even the resolute heart of the defendant. The ladies in the galleries, unaccustomed to such displays of eloquence, excited by the solemnity of the occa- sion, and perhaps not unwilling to display their taste and sensibility, were in a state of uncontrollable emotion. Handkerchiefs were pulled out ; smelling-bottles were handed round ; hysterical sobs and screams were heard, and some were even carried out in fits. At length, the orator concluded. Eaising his voice, till the old arches of Irish oak resounded, he said : " I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain in Farliament assembled, whose parliamentary trust he 1ms abused. " I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, whose national ehdraeter he has dishonored. " I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, and liberties he has subverted. " I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose property he has destroyed, whose country he has laid waste and desolate. "I impeach him in the name of human nature itself which he has cruelly outraged, Injured, and oppressed, in both s^xes. And I impeach him in the ndme and by the 180 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. virtue of those eternal Idws of jilstice, which ought equally to pervade every age, condition, rank, and situation, in the world." V. COMPOUND STPtESS. Compound stress is a combination of the radical and the vanishing stress upon the same Mord. Indeed, it may be considered as a very emphatic form of the emotional circumflex inflection. It is applied, like the circumflex, to express extreme astonishment, irony, sar- casm, mockery, and contempt. It is the stress of ex- treme emotion. In the following examples, the words upon wliich the compound stress falls are marked with the circumflex inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. Repeat, three times, with extreme astonishment: ah ! indeed ! 2. Repeat, three times, with strong emphasis and the falling circumflex : eve, ale, arm, all, old, ooze. 3. Repeat, with strong force and the rising circumflex : a, e, i, o, u ; the same with the falling circumflex. 4. Banished from Eomc ! What 's baiiislied but set free From daily contact of the things I loathe ? He dares not touch a lidir of Catiline. 5. KING JOHN. Gone to be married. ! gone to swear a 'peace ! False blood to false blood joined ! gone to be friends ! Shall Louis have Blanche, and Blanclie these provinces? Shakespeare. 6. SPARTACTTS. Is Sparta dead ? Is the old Grecian spirit frozen that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lasli ? SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 181 7. JULIUS C^SAR. Must I hiidfjfc? Must / observe you ? Must / stand and crouch Under your testy humor ? By the gods, You shall digest the venom of your spleen Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, I '11 use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter When you are waspish ! Shakespeare. 8. FROM CICERO's ACCUSATION OF VERRES. Is it come to this ? Shall an inferior magistrate, a gdvernor, who holds his whole power from the Roman people, in a Eoman province, within sight of Italy, hind, scourge, torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and at last put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen ? VI. IXTERMITTENT STRESS, OR THE TREMOR. 1. Intermittent stress, or the tremor, is the tremulous force of voice upon a sound or a word. The tremor is characteristic of the tottering feebleness of old age, of the weakness of sickness, or of the tones of a person shivering and trembling with cold, or with fear. 2. It naturally occurs in the utterance of fear, grief, joy, sobbing, and laughter, when the emotions are so strong as to enfeeble the flow of breath. In extreme pathos, the voice often trembles or quickens with emotion. 3. This form of stress must be very delicately applied, for, in excess, it becomes ridiculous. 4. Concerning the appropriate application of this form of stress. Prof. Russell remarks : " In the reading or the recitation of lyric and dramatic poetry, this function of voice is often required for full, vivid, and touching expression. Without its appeals to sympathy, and its peculiar power over the heart, many of the most beau- 182 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. tiful and touching passages of Shakespeare and Milton become dry and cold. Like the tremolo of the accom- plished vocalist iu operatic music, it has a charm, for the absence of which nothing can^ atoue — since nature suggests it as the genuine utterance of the most deli- cate and thrilling emotion. 0. " The perfect command of tremor requires often- repeated practice on elements, syllables, and words, as well as on appropriate passages of impassioned lan- guage." Dkill on Tremor. 1. Inhale ; give the tremulous sound of long a, thus : a — a — a — a, etc., prolonged until the breath is exhausted. 2. In a similar manner, take each of the remaining long vowel sounds, e, i, o, u. 3. Take a similar drill on ii; on a; on o. Examples of Tremor. 1. OLD AGE. Pity the sorrows of a jioor old man, Whose trcinhling limhs have home him to your door, Whose days are dwindled to the shortest sjjan ; — Oh ! give relief ; and Heaven will Mess your store ! 2. GAFFF.R GRAY. "Ho! why dost thou shiver and shake. Gaffer Gray? And why does thy nose look so blue ? " "'Tis the iccather that's cold, 'Tis I'm grown very old, And my doublet is not very new ; Well-a-day ! " Wordsworth. 3. ni.i> AGE. And still there came that silver tone. From the shriveled lips of the toothless crone — SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 183 Let me never forget to my dying day The tone or the burden of her lay — " Passing away ! passing away ! " pierpont. 4. LAUGHING UTTERAXCE. 1. A fool, a fool, I met a fool in the forest; A motley fool, a miserable varlet. 2. Oh ! then I see Queen Mab hath been with you. 5. SODBING. So Mary said, and Dora hid her face By Mary. There was silence in the room ; And all at once the old man burst in sobs: — " / have been to blame — to blame ! I have killed my son ! I have killed him — but I loved him — my dear son ! May God forgive me ! — / have been to blame. Kiss me, my children ! " Tennyson's Dora. 6. GOODY BLAKE AND HARRY GILL. She prayed, her withered hand uprearing, While Harry held her by the arm — "God! who art never out of liearing, may he never inore be ivarm ! " The cold, cold moon above her head, Thus on her knees did Goody pray : Young Harry heard what she had said, And icy cold he turned away. No word to any man he utters, Abed or up, to young or old ; But ever to himself he mutters, "Pool' Harry Gill is very cold." Abed or up, by night or day, His teeth may chatter, chatter still : Now think, ye farmers all, I pray. Of Goody Blake and Harry Gill. Wordsworth. 184 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 7. RIP VAN WINKLE. The honest man could contain himself no longer. He caught his daughter and her child in his arms. " / am your father ! " cried he, " young Bip Van Winkle once — old Bip Van Winkle now ! — Docs nobody knoiu 2>oor Bip Van Winkle ? " irvino. 8. EXOCU AKDEN. " Enoch, poor man, was cast away and lost." He, shaking his gray head pathetically, Eepeated muttering, " Cast cijvay and lost ; " Again in deeper inward whispers, "Lost!" Tennyson. 9. LITTLE GllETCHEN. They lifted her up tearfully, they shuddered as they said, " It was a bitter, bitter night ! the child is frozen dead." The angels sang their greeting for one more redeemed from sin. Men said, " It was a bitter night ; would no one let her in ? " Eecapitulation OF Stress. 1. Tlie radical is the stress of animation, of earnest- ness, of assertion, of command, and of passion. 2. The median is the stress of sentiment, of p'^f^^os and tenderness, of aive, reverence, sid>limity, and enthu- siasm. 3. Vanishing stress is the stress of very strong em- phasis, of contempt and disdain, of willfulness, petulance, and impatience. 4. Thorough stress is the stress of impassioned oratory, and intense dramatic expr-ession. 5. The comiwnnd is the stress of the circumflex inflec- tion, of irony, sarcasm, contempt, and astonishment. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 185 6. Tlie tremor is the stress of feebleness, of childishness, and of grief Stress Drill. 1. Radical. Attention, all. 2. Ifedian. All in one mighty sepulclier. 3. Vanishing. All, all is lost/ All lost! 4. Thorough. Come one, come all ! 5. Compound. What all, are they all lost ? 6. Intermittent. All my sons are dead, all, all dead! Examples of Stress. RADICAI.. Hear the loud alarum hells — hrdzen bells ! MEDIAN. Hear the mellow wedding bells — golden bells ! VANISHING. I '11 have my bond, and therefore speak no more. THOROUGH. Awake ! Arise ! or be forever fallen, COMPOUND. Gone to be married ! gone to swear a peaee ! INTERMITTENT. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door. 186 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. CHAPTER III. MOVEMENT. Introductory. 1. The three leading divisions of movement, rate, or time, in reading, are slow, moderate, and last. These distinctions are, for convenience, subdivided as follows : 1. Moderate (corresponding, in music, to andante). 2. Fast (allegro). 3. Very fast [iJresto). 4. Slow (culagio). 5. Very slow {largo). 2. Different kinds of prose and verse require differ- ent rates of movement, but the general principle that governs all reading or speaking may be stated as fol- lows : Read sloiuly enough for your hearers to compre- hend, fully and easily, what is read. 3. Good extemporaneous speakers generally have a slow and deliberate utterance, because they take time to think what to say. They, also, give their hearers time to think of what is said by the speaker. 4. The liabit of slow reading may be acquired, not by a drawling, hesitating utterance, but by observing rhetorical and grammatical pauses ; by prolonging vocal and liquid sounds-, and by taking time to think of the meaning of what is read. 5. The general principles governing niovonient ore well expressed in the following extract from liussell's "American School Keader:" "Every tiling tender, or sol- emn, plaintive, or grave, should be read with great moderation. Everything humorous or sprightly, every- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 187 tliiug witty or amusing, should be read in a brisk and lively manner. 6. " Narration should be generally equable and flowing ; vehemence, firm and accelerated; auger and joy, rapid; whereas dignity, authority, sublimity, reverence, and awe should, along with deeper tone, assume a slower movement. 7. " The movement should, in every instance, be adapted to the sense, and free from all hurry on the one hand, or drawling on the other. 8. " The pausing, too, should be carefully proportioned to the movement or rate of the voice ; and no change of movement from slow to fast, or the reverse, should take place in any clause, unless a change of emotion is implied in the language of the piece." Movement Deill. 1. Eepeat, three times, the long vocals, a, e, i, o, ii : (1) With low pitch and very slow movement. (2) With middle pitch and slow movement. (3) With moderate movement. (4) With fast movement. (5) With very fast movement. 2. Count from one to twenty : (1) With slow move- ment. (2) With moderate movement. (3) W^ith fast movement. 3. Repeat, with moderate movement — The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of night As a feather is wafted downwards From an eagle in his flight. I. Moderate Movement. Moderate movement is the characteristic rate in the reading of didactic, descriptive, or narrative composition, and of the poetry of sentiment. 188 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. EXAMPLES. 1. EiNGLISU SCENERY. The great charm, however, of English scenery, is the moral feeling that seems to pervade it. It is associated in the mind with ideas of hrder, of quiet, of sober, well- established principles, of hoary usage, and reverend ciLstom. Everything seems to be the growth of ages of regular and peaceful existence. The neighboring village, with its veueiuble cottages, its public green, sheltered by trees, under which the forefathers of the present race have spdrted ; the antique family mansion, standing apart in some little rural domdin, but looking down with a pro- tecting air on the surrounding scene; all these common features of English landscape evince a calm and settled security, a hereditary transmission of home-bred virtues and local attdclimenis, that speak deeply and toucliingly for the moral character of the nation. Irving. 2. THE SEASONS IN SWEDEN. I must not forget the suddenly clianging seasons of the northern clime. There is no long and lingering spring unfolding leaf and blossom one by 6nc ; no long and lingering autumn, pompous with many-colored leaves and the glow of Indian sumviers. But winter and sum- mer are wonderful, and pass into each other. The quail has hardly ceased piping in the c6rn, when whiter, from the folds of trailing clduds, sows broadcast over the land, sndw, icicles, and rattling hail. The days wane apace. Ere long the sun hardly rises ^ above the lion'zon, or does not rise at all. The moon and the stars sliine through the day ; only, at noon, they are pale and vmn, and in the southern sky a red, fiery glbw, as of sit7iset, burns along the horizon, and then goes but. And pleasantly, under the silver moon, and under the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel shoes of the skaters on the frozen s^a, and vhices, and the sound of OCilS. LONOFELLOW. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 189 II. Fast Movement. Fast, or quick, movement, is the characteristic rate in the expression of mirth, fun, humor, gladness, joy, and haste. EXAMPLES. 1. PAUL UEVERE's ride. A hurry of h6ofs in a village street, A shape in the mdonlight, a bulk in the ddrh, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fldet : That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light. The fate of a nation was r\ding that night ; And the spdrh struck out by that steed, in his fiight, Kindled the land into Jiame with its heat. Longfellow. 2. l'allegro. Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful Jollity, Quips, and cranks, and wanton vnlcs. Nods, and hecks, and wreathdd 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 ye go On the light fantastic toe ; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty. milton. 3. ONCE MORE. " Will I come ? " That is pleasant ! I beg to inquire If the gun that I carry has ever missed fire ? And which was the muster-roll — mention but one — That missed your old comrade who carries the gun ! You see me as always, my hand on tlie lock, The cap on the nipple, the hammer full cock. 190 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. It is rusty, some tell me; I heed not the scoff; It is battered and hruised, but it always goes off ! " Is it loaded .? " I '11 het you ! What docs n't it hold ? Eammed full to the muzzle with memories untold ; Why, it scares me to flir, lest tlie pieces should fly Like the cannons that burst on the Fourth of July ! Holmes. 4. IlIIYME OF THE RAIL. Singing through the forests, Eattling over ridoes, Shooting under arches, Rumbling over bridges ; Whizzing through the mountains, Buzzing o'er the vale. Bless me ! this is pleasant, Elding on the rail! saxe. 5. THE MAY QUEEN. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow '11 be the happiest time of all the glad New Year ; Of all the glad New Year, mother, the maddest, merriest day ; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. tennyson. 6. THE MESSAGE. The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; Speed forth the signal ! Norman, sjjeed ! The summons dread brooks no delay. Stretch to the race — away ! away ! scon. 7. THE SUMMONS. Come as the winds come, when forests are rended ; Come as the waves come, when navies are stranded. Faster come, faster come, faster and faster : Chief, vassal, page, and groom, tenant and master. SCHOOL ELOCUTION". 191 Fast they come, fast they come ; see liow they gather ! Wide waves the eagle phime, blended with heather. Cast your plaids, draw your blades, forward each man set ; Pibroch of Doiuiil Dhu, knell for the onset ! scott. 8. THE SMILING LISTENEK. Precisely. I see it. You all want to say That a tear is too sad and a smile is too gay ; You could stand a faint smile, you could manage a sigh, But you value your ribs, and you do n't want to cry. It's awful to tliink of — how year after year With his piece in his pocket he waits for you here ; Xo matter who 's missing, there always is one To lug out his manuscript, sure as a gun. III. Very Fast Movement. Very fast movement is expressive of hurry, alarm, confusion, flight, ecstatic joy, and ungovernable rage and fury. EXAMPLES. 1. MAZEPPA. Av-dy ! — aioay ! — and on we dash ! — Torrents less rapid and less rash. Aivdy, aivdy, my steed and I, Upon the pinions of the ivlnd., All human dwellings left behind ; We sped like meteors through the sJcy, When with its crackling sound the night Is chequered with the northern light. byron. 2. HURRY. Sisters ! hence, with spurs of speed ! Each her thundering falchion wield ; Each bestride her sable steed; Hurry ! hurry to the field. 192 SCHOOL ELOCUTIOl^. 3. FLIGHT. Forth from the pass in tumult driven, Like chaff before the wind of heaven, The archery appear; For life ! for life ! their flight they ply ; While shrink, and shckit, and battle-cry, And plaids and bonnets waving high, And br('iadswords Hashing to the sky, Are maddening in the rear. scorr. 4. GOOD NEWS. I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he ; t galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all thr^e ; " Good speed ! " cried the watch as the gate-bolts undrfew ; " Speed ! " echoed the wall to us galloping through. Behind shut the postern ; the lights sank to rfest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast. Not a word to each other ; we kept the great pace, Ndck by ndck, stride by stride, never changing our place ; I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup and set the pique right, liebuckled tlie clidck-strap, chained slacker the bit. Nor galloped less steadily Eoland a whit. browning. 5. now THE OLD HOr.SE WOX THE BET. " Bring forth the horse ! " Alas ! he showed Not like the one Mazeppa rode ; Scant-maned, sharp-backed, and shaky-kneed. The wreck of wliat was once a steed; Lips tliin, eyes hollow, stiff in joints, Yet not M'ithout his knowing points. " Go ! " — Through his ear the summons stung, As if a battle-trump had rung; The slumbering instincts long unstirred Start at the old f uniliar word ; It thrills like flame through every limb — What mean his twenty years to him ? SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 193 The savage blow his rider dealt Fell on his hollow flanks unfelt ; The spur that pricked his staring hide Unheeded tore his bleeding side; Alike to him are spur and rein — He steps a five-year-old again ! Before the quarter-pole was passed, Old Hiram said, " He 's going fast." Long ere the quarter was a half, The chuckling crowd had ceased to laugh; Tighter his frightened jockey clung As in a mighty stride he swung, The gravel flying in his track, His neck stretched out, his ears laid back. His tail extended all the while Behind him like a rat-tail file ! Off went a shoe — away it spun. Shot like a bullet from a gun ; The quaking jockey shapes a prayer From scraps of oaths he used to swear ; He drops his whip, he drops his rein, He clutches fiercely for a mane ; He'll lose his hold — he sways and reels — He '11 slide beneath those trampling heels ! But like the sable steed that bore The spectral lover of Lenore, His nostrils snorting foam and fire. No stretch his bony limbs can tire ; And now the stand he rushes by, And " Stop him ! stop him 1 " is the cry. Stand back ! he 's only just begun — He 's having out three heats in one ! Now for the finish I At the turn. The old horse — all the rest astern — Comes swinging in, with easy trot ; By Jove ! he 's distanced all the lot ! holmes 13 194 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. IV. Slow Movement. Slow movement prevails in the utterance of praise and adoration, and in all expression when the mind is under the intiuence of meditation, grief, melancholy, grandeur, sublimity, vastness, or power. It is the characteristic rate of thoughtful and powerful oratory. In slow movement, the rhetorical pauses are long, and the voice dwells on the licpiid and the long vowel sounds. EXAMPLES. 1. ASTRONOMY. Generation after generation has rolled awhy, age after age has swept silently hy ; but each has swelled, by its contributions, the stream of discovery. Mysterious mdvements have been unraveled ; mighty Idws have been revealed ; ponderous 6rhs have been weighed ; 6nc barrier after anoikcr has given way to the force of intellect ; until the mind, majestic in its strength, has mounted, stdp by stdp, up the rocky height of its self-built pyramid, from whose star-crowned summit it looks out upon the grandeur of the universe self-clothed with the prescience of a God. Mitchell. 2. THE RAVEN. Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in tlie bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor : Eagerly I wished the morrow ; — vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore — For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore. POB. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 195 3. THE AXCIENT MARINER. Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on the wide, wide sea; And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. The many men, so beautiful ! And they all dead did lie ! And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on — and so did I. I closed my lids and kept them close, Till the balls like pulses beat ; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky Lay like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet. coleridge. 4. THE HOUR OF DEATH. Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath. And stars to set — but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death ! Mrs. Hemans. 5. TO A WATERFOWL. Whither, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue Thy solitary way ? Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along. Bryant. V. Very Slow Movement. Very slow movement prevails in the expression of deep emotions, such as awe, reverence, horror, melancholy, and grief. 196 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. In this movement the rhetorical and grammatical pauses are very long, and the vowel and liquid sounds are dwelt upon and prolonged. The prevailing inflection in this movement is the monotone. EXAMPLES. 1. Air, earth, and sea resound his praise abroad. 2. EoU on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll. 3. Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste. 4. Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe. 5. It thunders ! Sons of dust, in reverence bow. 6. Unto Thee I lift up mine eyes, Thou that dwell- est in the heavens. 7. Thou hast all seasons for thine owm, Death ! 8. Now o'er the one half world Nature seems dead ; and wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleeper. Thou sure and firm-set earth. Hear not my steps which way tliey walk, for fear The very stones prate of my whereabouts, And take the present horror from the time Wliich now suits with it. 9. CARDINAL WOLSEY. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness. This 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 His greatness is a-ripening — nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory — SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 197 But far beyond my depth; my liigh-blown pride At length broke under me ; and now has left me, Weary, and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me. Shakespeare. 10. DREAM OF DARKNESS. The crowd was famished by degrees. But two Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies. They met beside The dying embers of an altar-place, Where had been heaped a mass of holy things For an unholy usage. They raked up. And, shivering, scraped with their cold, skeleton hands, The feeble ashes ; and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame. Which was a mockery. Then they lifted Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects — saw, and shrieked, and died ; Even of their mutual hideousness they died. Unknowing who he was, upon whose brow Famine had written Fiend. byron. 11. HIAWATHA. the long and dreary Winter ! the cold and cruel Winter ! Ever thicker, thicker, thicker Froze the ice on lake and river; Ever deeper, deeper, deeper Fell the snow o'er all the landscape. Fell the covering snow, and drifted Through the forest, round the village. Longfellow. Examples of Movement, VERY SLOW. Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness. 198 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. SLOW. Alone, alone, all, all alone. MODERATE. There was a sound of revelry by night. FAST. Come and trip it as ye go On the light fantastic toe. VERT EAST. Hurry ! hurry to the field ! Require each pupil to make out and read in the class a similar set of quoted illustratioiis. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 199 CHAPTER IV. PITCH OF VOICE. I. Introductoky. 1. Pitch, or key, denotes the highness or lowness of the voice in tone. The range of the voice from the lowest to the highest tone is called its compass. 2. The compass of the voice among readers corre- sponds, in some degree, to the tenor, soprano, contralto, and bass, among singers ; but every voice has its own relatively low, middle, and high tones. 3. For every one, the middle pitch is that tone to which the voice inclines in conversation, or in unim- passioued reading. 4. The three main divisions of pitch are the low, the middle, and the high; but tliese, for convenience, are subdivided into very low, low, middle, high, and very high. 5. The general key in which a selection should be read is determined by the general sentiment or character of the piece. 6. In order to avoid monotony, there should be some sliglit variation of pitch at the beginning of each suc- cessive paragraph that marks a new topic of discourse, or a change of idea. 7. Law pitch is the tone expressive of serious thought, of awe, of reverence, of adoration, of horror, and of despair. 8. Middle pitch is the tone of conversation, and of unimpassioned narrative or descriptive reading. 200 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 9. High pitch is the tone of gayety, joy, and gladness ; of courage and exultation; and of shouting and calling, 10. Of the importance of drill exercises in pitch, Prof. Monroe says : " One of the commonest faults in school reading, and in the delivery of many public speakers, is a dull monotony of tone. This sameness is still more disagreeable to the ear when the voice is kept strained upon a high key. Not less unpleasant is an incessant repetition of the same cant or sing-song. Elocutionary rules will do little or nothing toward removing these faults. Faithful drill is needed, under the guidance of good taste and a correct musical ear. To this must be added an appreciation of the sentiment of the piece at the moment of utterance. 11. "When the organs have been trained to freedom and facility in all degrees of the musical scale, the pupil will find it easy to modulate his voice in reading. Vowels, words, and sentences should be practiced with high, middle, and low pitch. Having these tones at his command, the expressive reader will vary the pitch with every shade of thought or emotion, so that a foreigner who did not understand a word might listen with pleas- ure to the play of intonation. Next to sweetness of voice, a proper melody of delivery luis the greatest charm to the hearer." 11. Concert Drill on Pitch. 1. Sing the scale, up and down : do, re, mi, fii, sol, la, si, do. 2. Sing the scale witli the long vowel sounds, instead of note names : a, e, i, 5, u, a, e, I. 3. Sound, not sing, tlie long vowels, a, e, I, o, ii, on the key of do ; of mi ; of sol ; of do. 4. Sound tlie long vowels, ii, e, i, o, u : (1) With low SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 201 pitch. (2) With middle pitch. (3) With high pitch. (4) With very high pitch. 5. Count from one to twenty: (1) In middle pitch. (2) With low pitch. (3) With high pitch. G. Eepeat, five times, the word " all," beginning with very low pitch, and rising higher with each successive repetition. III. Faults in Pitch. 1. The most common fault in school reading is the high pitch known as the conventional "school tone," which grates on the ear like the filing of a saw. It arises from an effort to read in a loud tone, and from a habit of reading without any regard to thouglit or feeling. This fault must be corrected by vocal drill on a low key. 2. A common fault, particularly of girls, is that of reading with feeble force and low pitch. 3. The failure to adapt the pitch to the sentiment or emotion of wliat is read. IV. Examples of the Middle Pitch. The middle pitch is the natural tone of ordinary con- versation. It is the appropriate key for the reading of unimpassioned narrative, descriptive, and didactic com- position. 1. Give a boy address and accomplishments, and you give him the mastery of palaces and fortunes where he goes. 2. Wisdom is better than riches. 3. Good morning, Mr. Brown. How do you do this morning ? 4. For all a rhetorician's rules Teach nothiu"; but to name his tools. 202 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 5. Marley was dead, to begin with ; there is no doubt whatever about that. Old Marley was as dead as a door-uail. 6. CONCORD RIVER, We stand now on the river's brink. It may well be called the Concord — the river of peace and quietness, — for it is certainly the most unexcitable and sluggish stream that ever loitered imperceptibly towards its eternity, the sea. Positively, I had lived three weeks beside it, be- fore it grew quite clear to my perception which way the current flowed. It never has a vivacious aspect, except when a north-western breeze is vexing its sur- face, on a sunshiny day. From the incurable indolence of its nature, the stream is happily incapable of becoming the slave of human ingenuity, as is the fate of so many a wild, free, moun- tain torrent. Wliile all things else are compelled to subserve some useful purpose, it idles its sluggish life away in lazy liberty, without turning a solitary spindle, or affording even water-power enough to grind the corn that grows upon its banks. Hawthorne. 7. WOUTER VAN TWILLER. This, by the way, is a casual remark, which I would not, for the universe, have it thought I apply to Gov- ernor Van Twiller. It is true he was a man shut up within himself, like an oyster, and rarely spoke except in monosyllables ; but then it was allowed he seldom said a foolish thing. So invincible was his gravity that he was never known to laugh, or even to smile, through the whole course of a long and prosperous life. Nay, if a joke were uttered in his presence, that set liglit- minded hearers in a roar, it was observed to throw him into a state of perplexity. Sometimes he would deign to inquire into the matter, and when, after much ex- planation, the joke was made as plain as a pike-staff, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 203 he would continue to smoke his pipe in silence, and at length, knocking out the ashes, would exclaim, "Well, I see nothing in all that to laugh about." irving. V. Examples of High Pitch. Joj, mirth, and gayety incline the voice to pure tone and high pitch. Calling to persons at a distance in- clines the voice to high pitch and pure tone. Anger, courage, boldness, and exultation incline the voice to high pitch and loud force. 1. Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully. 2. Eing joyous chords ! ring out again A swifter still and a wilder strain. 3. And dar'st thou, then. To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall ? 4. But thou, Hope, with eyes so fair, What was thy delighted measure 1 5. AXGER. Call me their traitor ! — Thou injurious tribune ! Within thine eyes sat twenty thSusand deaths, In thine hands clutched as many millions, in Thy lying tongue huth numbers, I would say Thou liest, unto thee, with a voice as free As 1 do pray the gods. From Conolanus. 6. VICTOIIY. They strike ! hurrah ! the foe has surrendered ! Shout ! shout ! my warrior boy. And wave your cap, and clap your hands for joy. Cheer answer cheer, and bear the cheer about. Hurrah ! hurrah ! for the fiery fort is ours. Victory ! victory ! victory ! 204 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. I 'm with you once again ! — I call to yoa With all my voice, I hold my hands to you, To show they still are frh. I rush to you As though I could eiiibrdce you. Tdl's Address to the Mountains. 8. CALLING THE COWS. When over the hill the farm-boy goes, Cheerily calling, " Co' loss I cd boss ! cd ! cd ! cd ! " Fartlier, farther, over the hill, Faintly calling, calling still, " Cd boss ! cd loss ! cd ! cd ! cd ! " trowbeidoe. 9. THE watchman's call. Ho ! watchman, ho ! Twelve is the clock ! God keep our town From fire and brand And hostile hand ! Twelve is tlie clock ! 10. THE .SILVER BELLS. Hear the sledges with the bells — Silver bells What a world of merriment their melody foretells ! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that overspriukle All the heavens, seemed to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time. In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation tliat so musically wells From tlie bells, bells, bells, bells. Bells, bells, bells— From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells, poe. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 205 11. EXULTATION. Joy ! joy forever ! my task is done ; The gates are passed, and heaven is won. moore. 12. COMMAND AND SHOUTING. Advance your standards, draw your wilhng swords ! Sound drums and trumjyefs, boldly and cheerfully .' God, and Saint George ! Bichmond and victory ! 13. THE CHARCOAL MAN. Though rudely blows the wintry blast, And sifting snows fall white and fast, Mark Haley drives along the street, Perched high upon his wagon-seat ; His somber face the storm defies, And tb us from morn till eve he cries : — " Chared ! chared ! " While echo faint and far replies : — "Hark, 01 harl% !" " Chared ! " — " Hark, ! " — Such cheery sounds Attend him on his daily rounds. Trowbridge. 14. THE LOST HEIR. One day, as I was going by That part of Holborn christened High, I heard a loud and sudden cry That chilled my very blood ; " Lord ! oh, dear, my heart will break, I shall go stick stark staring wild ! Has ever a one seen anything about the streets like a crying, lost-looking child ? The last time as ever I see liim, j)oor thing, was with my own blessed motherly eyes. Sitting as good as gold in the gutter, a -playing at making little dirt pies. Billy — where are you, Billy ? — I 'rn as hoarse as a crow, with screaming for ye, you young sorrow ! 206 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, And sha'n't have half a voice, no more I sha'n't, for crying fresh herrings to-morrow. Billy — where are you, Billy, I say ? come Billy, come home to your best of mothers ! I 'm scared when I think of them cabroleys, they drive so, they'd run over their own sisters and brothers. Or may be he 's stole by some chimbly-sweeping wretch, . to stick fast in narrow flues and what not. And be poked up behind with a picked pointed pole, when the soot has ketched, and the chimbly 's red hot. Oh, I 'd give the whole wide world, if the world was mine, to clap my two longin' eyes on his face ; For he 's my darliu' of darlin's, and if he do n't soon come back, you '11 see me drop stone-dead on the place. I only wish I 'd got him safe in these two motherly arms, and would n't I hug him and kiss him ! Lawk ! I never knew what a precious he M'as — but a child do n't feel like a child till you miss him. Why, there he is ! Punch and Judy hunting, the young wretch ; it 's that Billy as sartin as sin ! But let me get him home, witli a good grip of his hair, and I 'm blest if he shall have a whole bone in his skin ! " Hood. 15. EXTR.VCTS FROM IIOOP's "TALE OF A TRUMPET." Of all old women hard of hearing, The deafest, sure, was Dame Eleanor Spearing I On lier head, it is true, Two flaps there grew, That ser\'ed for a pair of gold rings to go through ; But for any purpose of ears in a parley, They heard no more than ears of barley. However, in the peddler came, And tlie moment he met tlie eyes of the dame. Popped a trumpet into her ear: — SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 207 " There, ma'am ! try it ! You need n't hiiy it — The last new patent — and nothing comes nigh it, For affording the deaf, at httle expense. The sense of hearing, and hearing of sense ! A real blessing — and no mistake. Invented for poor humanity's sake; I would n't tell a He, I would n't, But my trumpets have heard what Solomon's couldn't; Only a guinea — and can't take less." {"That's very dear," says Dame Eleanor S.) "There was Mrs. F., So very d^.if, That she might have worn a percussion-cdj9. And been knocked on the head without hearing it sn^p. Well, I sold her a horn, and the very next day She heard from her husband at Botany Bay ! Come — speak your mind — it's 'No or Yes.'" ("I've half a mind" said Dame Eleanor S.) " Try it— buy it ! Biiy it — try it ! The last new patent, and nothing comes nigh it." In short, the peddler so besdt her — Lord Bacon could n't have gammoned her better — With flatteries plump and indirect, And plied his tongue Avith such efi'dct — A tongue tliat could almost have buttered a crumpet — The deaf old ivoman bought the fA'umjjet. 16. CONVERSATION UNDER DIFFICULTIES. [Each supposes the other to be very deaf, the pitch at times running into screamiTUf.] Jones. (Speaking shrill and loud.) Miss, will you ac- cept these flowers ? I plucked them from their slumber on the hill. Fru. (In an equally high voice.) Eeally sir, I — I — 208 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Jones. {Aside.) She hesitates. It must be that she does not hear me. {Increasing his tone) Miss, will you accept these flowers — flowers ? I plucked them sleep- ing ou the hill — hill. Pru. {Also increasing her tone.) Certainly, Mr. Jones. They are beautiful — beau-u-tiful. Jones. {Aside.) How she screams in my ear. {Alond.) Yes, I plucked them from their slumber — slumber, on the hill — HILL. Fru. {Aside.) Poor man, what an effort it seems for him to speak. {Aloud.) I perceive you are poetical. Are you fond of poetry ? {Aside.) He hesitates. I must speak louder. {In a scream.) Poetry — poetry — POETEY ! Jones. {Aside.) Bless me, the woman would wake the dead ! {Aloud.) Yes, Miss, I ad-o-r-e it. Snob. Glorious ! glorious ! I wonder how loud they can scream. Oh, vengeance, thou art sweet ! Pru. Can you repeat some poetry — poetry ? Jones. I only know one poem. It is this — You 'd scarce expect one of m}' age — Age, To speak in public on the stage — Stage. Pru. Bravo — bravo ! Jones. Thank you ! Thank Pru. ]\Iercy on us ! Do you think I 'm deaf, sir ? Jones. And do you fancy mc deaf. Miss ? {Natural tone.) Pru. Are you not, sir ? You surprise me ! Jones. No, IVIiss. I was led to believe that you were deaf. Snobbleton told me so. Pru. Snol)bleton ! Why, he told me that you were deaf. Jones. Confound the fellow ! he has been making game of us. BeadU's Dime Speaker. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 209 YI. Examples of Low Pitcil Low pitch is the characteristic key of the voice when the mind is under the influence of serious, grave, and impressive thoughts ; and very loiv pitch is the appro- priate key for the expression of reverence, adoration, horror, and despair. 1. FROM THE "RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER." An orphan's curse woukl drag to hell A spirit from on high ; But oh ! more horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye ! Seven days, seven nights I saw that curse. And yet I could not die. 2. FROM THE " RAVEN." Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before ; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word " Lenore ! " This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word " Lenore ! " Merely this, and nothing more. 3. LATJS DEO. Let us knfeel ; God's own voice is in that peal. And this spot is hhhj ground. Lord, forgive us ! What are wfe. That our eyes this giory see, That our ears have heard the sound ! whittikr. 14 210 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. FROM THE PSALMS. He bowed the heavens, also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet; and he rode upon a cherub, and did fly ; and he was seen upon the wings of the wind; and he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. 5. THE CHANDOS PICTURE. » The bell far off beats midnight ; in the dark The sounds have lost their way, and wander slowly Through the dead air ; beside me things cry, " Hark ! " And whisper words unholy. edwabd pollock. 6. THE IRON BELLS. Hear the tolling of the bells — Iron bells ! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night. How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone ! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people — ah, the people — They that dwell up in the steeple. All alone ! And who tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone. Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone ; They are neither man nor woman — They are neither brute nor hunian — ■ They are ghouls ; And their king it is who tolls — And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls, A pa?au from the bells ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 211 And his merry bosom swells With the psean of the bells ! And he dances and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Kunic rhyme, To the paean of the bells — Of the bells ! Keeping time, time, time. In a sort of Runic rhyme. To the throbbing of the bells — Of the bells, bells, bells— To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time. As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells — Of the bells, bells, bells, To the tolling of the bells — Of the bells, bells, bells, bells. Bells, bells, bells — To the moaning and the groaning of the bells ! POH. VII. EXA.MPLES OF Very Low Pitch. 1. Concerning the application of very low pitch in reading and speaking. Prof. Russell remarks : " This low- est form of pitch is one of the most impressive means of powerful natural effect, in the utterance of all deep and impressive emotions. The pervading and absorbing effect of awe, ariiazement, horror, or any similar feeling, can never be produced without low pitch and deep suc- cessive notes ; and the depth and reality of such emotions are always in proportion to the depth of voice with which they are uttered. The grandest descriptions in the ' Par- adise Lost,' and the profoundest meditations in the 'Night Thoughts,' become trivial in their effect on the 212 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. ear, when read witli the ineffectual expression insepara- ble from the pitch of ordinary conversation or discourse. 2. " The vocal deficiency M'hich limits the range of expression to the middle and higher notes of tlie scale is not, by any means, the unavoidable and necessary fault of organization, as it is so generally supposed to be. Habit is in this, as in so many other things, the cause of defect. There is truth, no doubt, in the remark so often made in defense of a high and feeble voice, that it is natural to the individual, or that it is difficult for some readers to attain to depth of voice without incurring a false and forced style of utterance. But in most cases it is habit, not organization, that has made certain notes natural or unnatural — in other words, familiar to the ear or the reverse. 3. "The neglect of the lower notes of the scale, and, consequently, of the organic action by which they are produced, may render a deep-toned utterance less easy than it would otherwise be. But most teachers of elo- cution arc, from day to day, witnesses to the fact that students, from the neglect of muscular action, and iVom all tlie other enfeebling causes involved in sedentary habits and intellectual application, sometimes commence a course of practice with a high-pitched, thin, and fem- inine voice, which seems at first incapable of expressing a grave or manly sentiment, and, in some instances, appears to forbid the individual from ever attempting the utterance of a solemn thought, lest his treble tone should make the effect ridiculous ; but that a few weeks' practice of vocal exercise on bass notes and deep emo- tions, as embodied in rightly selected exercises, often enables such readers to acquire a round and deep-toned utterance, adequate to the fullest effects of impressive eloquence. 4. ""The exercise of singing bass, if cultivated as an habitual practice, has a great effect in imparling com- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 213 mand of deep-toned expression in reading and speaking. Eeading and reciting passages from Milton and from Young, and particularly from the Book of Psalms, or from hymns of a deeply solemn character, are exercises of great value for securing the command of the lower notes of the voice." 5. In the following exercises the movement is very slow, the pauses are very long, and the prevailing inflec- tion the grave monotone. 1. THE GRAVE. How frightful the grave ! how deserted and drear ! With the howls of the storm- wind, the creaks of the bier, And the white bones all clattering together ! 2. THE BELL OF THE ATLANTIC. Toll, toll, tull, thou bell by billows swung; And, night and day, thy warning words repeat with mournful tongue ; T511 for the queenly boat, wrecked on yon rocky shore ! Sea-weed is in her palace walls; she lides the surge no more. mrs. sigourney. 3. THE GHOST IN HAMLET. I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young l)l(jod, Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hilir to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. Shakespeare. 4. DARKNESS. The world was void : The pclpulous I and the powerful | was a lump, Seasouless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless ; A liimp of death, a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes, and ocean, all | stood | still, 214 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. And nothing | stirred | within their silent depths. Ships, sailorless, lay rotting on the sea, And their masts | fell down | piecemeal; as they dropped | They slept on the abyss, without a surge — The waves | were dead ; the tides | were in their gra\'e ; The moon, their mistress, liad expired before ; The winds | were withered | in the stagnant air, And the clouds | perished : Darkness j had no need | Of aid 1 from theiu — she I was the universe. byron. VIII. Eecapitulatiox of Pitch. 1. Very low is the pitch of awe, of reverence, of solem- nity, of melancholy, horror, and despair. 2. Low is the pitch of serious, grave, solemn, and im- pressive thoughts and feelings. 3. Middle is the piU^h of ordinary conversation, and of unimpassioned narrative, descriptive, or didactic com- position. 4. High pitch is the pitch of courage, boldness, exulta- tion, wonder, and anger, and of shouting or calling. 5. Very high is the pitch of rapturous emotion, of un- controllable passion, of terror, and pain. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 215 CHAPTEE V. QUALITY OF VOICE. Introductory. 1. Quality of voice relates to the kind of tone used in reading or speaking in order to express varied thoughts and emotions. 2. The ever-varying intonations of a rich and culti- vated voice constitute one of the greatest charms of a good reader or speaker. 3. "In poetical and impassioned language," says Prof, Eussell, " tones are often the most proniinent and the most important qualities of voice ; and to give these with propriety, force, and vividness, is the chief excel- lence of good reading or recitation. 4. "The language of prose, being generally less imaginative and exciting, does not require the extent and power of tone used in poetry. But as true feeling is, in both cases, the same in kind, though not in degree, and as no sentiment can be uttered naturally without the tone of its appropriate emotion, and no thought, indeed, can arise in the mind without a degree of emo- tion, a great importance is attached, even in the read- ing or speaking of \)to^q composition, to those qualities of voice comprehended under the name of tones. 5. " Without these, utterance would degenerate into a merely mechanical process of articulation. It is these that give impulse and vitality to thought, and which constitute the chief instruments of eloquence." 216 school elocution. Kinds of Tone. The different qualities of tone may be classed as follows : 1. Pure tone. 4. The Guttural. 2. The Orotund. 5. The Falsetto. 3. The Aspirated. 6. The Semitone. Of these divisions, the pure tone and the orotund are the most important, because they are most used in reading. Faults in Quality. 1. Perhaps the most common fault in school reading consists in using one uniform tone lor all kinds of selections. 2. This hard, thin, high, grating quality is appropri- ately termed the " school tone." 3. The faulty habits of pupils in this respect are best corrected by requiring pupils to repeat in concert, after the teacher, short extracts which include great variations of quality. Many timid pupils are, at first, frightened at the sound of their own voices in any other tone than the conventional school tone. 4. Another fault is the tendency to the nasal tone. This high, thin, sharp, disagreeable tone is pi'oduced by forcing the breath into the nose before it leaves the mouth, and this fault in reading is the result of not opening the mouth sufficiently in reading. It may be l)roken up by persistent drill on the open vowel sounds, and by exercises that keep the voice down to a low pitch. I. Pure Tone. 1. Piire tone, or head tone, is a clear, smooth souncf. so formed as to have a .slight resonance in the head or through the nasal passages. A good illustration of this quality is afforded by giving the sound of oo as in nioTm, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. -217 prolonged for ten seconds, in a tliin, clear, gentle vocal sound, on a moderately high pitch. 2. Pure tone is used in all quiet, gentle, subdued forms of utterance ; in the expression of pathos and tenderness ; in ordinary conversation ; in unimpassioned reading ; and in the prolonged tones of shouting or calling, when the voice, raised to a high pitch, flows in a thin, clear, penetrating volume. 3. " The production of pure and full tone," says Prof. William Eussell, "is the common ground on which elo- cution and vocal music unite, in elementary discipline. Both arts demand attention to appropriate healthful attitude, and to free, expansive, energetic action in the organs. 4. " Botli require erect posture, free opening of the chest, full and regular breathing, power of producing and sustaining any degree of volume of voice, and, along with these, the habit of vivid, distinct articulation. 5. " Both equally forbid that imperfect and laborious breathing which mars the voice, exhausts the organs, and produces disease. Both tend to secure that healthy vigor of organ which makes vocal exercise, at once, a source of pleasure and a source of health." EXAMPLES. 1. Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, While the landscape round it measures. 2. that this lovely vale were mine ! 3. then I see Queen Mab hath been with you ! 4. Rejoice, ye men of Angiers ; ring your bdlls ; Open your gates to give the victors way. 5. Joy ! joy forever ! my task is done ! 6. Ring, joyous chords ! ring out again ! 7. Hear the sledo-es with the bells — silver bells ! 218 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt "whatever about that. 9. Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. 10. Has there any old fellow got mixed with the hoys ? 11. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Eevere. 12. BUGLE SONG. O hark, O hear ! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going ; sweet and far, from cliff and scar. The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing ! Blow ; let us hear the purple glens replying ; Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. Tennyson. 13. THE BELLS. Hear the sledges with the bells — Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells ! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night ! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight ; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of liunic rliyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells. Bells, bells, bells ; From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. poe. 14. SONG ox MAY MOKNIXG. Now tlio l)riqlit morning Star, day's harbinger, Couies dancing from the East, and leads with her SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 219 The flowery May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire Mirth, and youth, and warm desire: "Woods and groves are of thy dressing. Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. Thus we salute thee with our early song, And welcome thee, and wish thee long. Milton. 15. DniFTIXG. The day so mild is Heaven's own child, With Earth and Ocean reconciled ; The airs I feel around me steal Are murmurinf? to the murmurinoj keel. Over the rail my hand I trail Within the shadow of the sail ; A joy intense — the cooling sense — Glides down my drowsy indolence. Read. IG. TO A SKYLARK. Hail to thee, blithe spirit — Bird thou never wert — That from heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still and higher, From the earth thou springest ; Like a cloud of fire The blue deep thou wingest. And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. Shellev. 17. PASSING AWAY. Was it the chime of a tiny hell That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, That he winds, on the beach, so mellow and clear, 220 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. "When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, And the Moon and the Fairy are watching the deep, She dispensing her silvery light. And he his notes as silvery quite, While the boatman listens and ships his 6ar, To catch the music that comes from the shdre ? Hark ! the notes on my ear that pldy, Are set to tvbrds: as they float, they sdy, " Passing awdy ! lidssing aivdy ! " pierpont. 18. EVE OF ELECTION. From gold to gray, our mild, sweet day Of Indian summer fades too soon ; But tenderly, above the sea. Hangs, white and calm, the hunter's moon. In its pale fire the village spire Shows like the zodiac's spectral lance ; The painted walls, whereon it falls, Transfigured stand in marble trance ! -^niTriER. Concert Drill on Pure Tone. 1. Repeat, four times, the long vowels, a, e, I, 5, u : (1) With moderate force, pure tone, and rising inflection. (2') With soft or gentle force. (3) With higli pitch, pure tone, and sustained force. 2. Count from one to fifty: (1) With quiet conversa- tional tone and rising inflection. (2) Falling inflection. (3) Circumflex inflection. (4) The monotone. 3. Give the sound of long o, prolonged for ten sec- onds ; of a ; of e. 4. In high pitch, and lliin, clear, pure tone, call as to persons at a distance : ho ! ho ! ho ! II. The Orotund. 1. The orottmd is a round, deep, full, clear, resonant SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 221 fhest tone of voice. It has the flow and fullness of an organ-peal. It is the tone of emotion, excitement, and passion. 2. The orotund has the smoothness of pure tone, but combines it with a much heavier volume of sound. The swelling tones of the orotund are the appropriate means of expressing reverence, awe, sublimity, grandeur, and strong feeling or passion. It prevails in oratorical declamation and in the reading of lyric or dramatic poetry. 3. The prevailing stress of the orotund is the median, changing, however, under excitement, into the radical. 4. In the orotund utterance, the breathing must be full and deep, to insure a good supply of breath ; the mouth must be well opened ; all the vocal organs must be called into full play ; and then, in harmony with strong emotions, the voice swells out like the blast of a bugle or the resonant swell of an organ. 5. The three degrees of the orotund may be distin- guished as the effusive, the expulsive, and the explosive. Orotund Drill. 1. Eepeat, four times, in monotone, the long vocals, a, e, 1, 6, u. 2. Inhale to the utmost capacity of the lungs and tlien give, with strong swell and round tone, the sound of long 0, prolonged as long as the breath will allow. 3. Eepeat four times the following vocals : e, a, a, a, 5, o. 4. Lo ! the mighty sun looks forth ! Arm ! thou leader of the north. 5. Awake ! Arise ! or be forever fallen ! 6. Air, earth, and sea, resound liis praise abroad. 7. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll, Ten tliousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. 222 SCHOOL ELOCUTIOX. 8. Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness. 9. Hail ! holy light, offspring of Heaven first-born ! 10. Liberty! freedom! Tyranny is dead! 11. It thunders! sons of dust, in reverence bow! 12. Hear the mellow wedding bells — golden bells. 13. Hear the loud alarum bells — brazen bells. 14. O thou Eternal One ! whose presence bright All space doth occupy, all motion guide, Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight: Thou only God ! There is no God beside ! Examples of Effusive Orotund. 1. THE ARSENAL. This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling, Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms; But from their silent pipes no anthem pealing, Startles the villages | with strange alarms. Ah I what a sound will rise — how wild and dreary — When the death-angel touches those swift khjs! What loud lament | and dismal Miserere Will mingle | with their awful symphonies! I hdar even nbw \ the infinite fierce chorus, The cries of agony, the endless groan. Which, through the ages \ that have gone before us, In long reverberations \ reach our own. Longfellow. 2. THE OCEAN. The armaments \ which thunderstrike the walls | Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake, And mdnarehs | tremble in their capitals; The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make | Their clay creator j the vain title take | SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 223 Of lord of thee, and arbiter of wdr — These I are thy tbi/s, and, as the snowy Jldke, They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar [ Alike I the Armadas pride, or spoils of Trafalgd?'. Byeon. 3. HYMN TO MONT BLANC. Ye Icc-falls ! ye that from the mountain's brow | Adowu enormous ravines slope amain — Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice. And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge! Motionless torrents ! silent cataracts ! Who made you glorious as the gates of hkiven \ Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the sun | Clothe you with rainbows ? Who, with living Jibwers Of loveliest blue, spread gdrlands at your feet ? — God ! let the torrents like a shout of nations \ Answer ! and let the kc-plains echo : God ! God ! sing, ye meadow-streams, with gladsome V(Mce ! Ye |jMic-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds ! And tlihj too have a voice, yon piles of snow. And in their perilous fall | shall thunder : God ! COLEEIDGE. 4. THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS. Build thee more stdtchj mansions, my soul. As the swift seasons roll ! Leave thy low-vaulted past ! Let each new temple, nobler than the hist, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast. Till thou at length art frh, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting s^a ! Holmes. 5. FROM THE PSALMS. Praise ye the Lbrd. Praise ye the Lord from tlie heavens; praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his ttngels: praise ye him, all his hbsts. Praise ye liim, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stdrs of light. Piaise 224 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye vxlfers that be ahbvc the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lbrd : for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ^ver : he liath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all dhps: fire, and hail; snoiv, and vtcpors ; stormy wind fulfilling his lubrd : mbuntains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: beasts, and all cMtle ; creeping things, and flying fbivl : kings of the earth, and all people : princes, and all judges of the earth : both young men and mb^idens ; old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lbrd : for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. 6. EVE OF ELECTION. Our hearts grow cold, we lightly hold A right which brave men died to gain ; The stake, the cord, the ax, the sword. Grim nurses at its birth of pain. The shadow rend, and o'er us bend, martyrs, with your crowns and palms ! Breathe through these throngs, your battle-songs. Your scaffold prayers and dungeon psalms ! Whittier. Examples of Expulsive Orotund. These examples are to be rendered with a stronger swell than those under the head of effusive orotund. 1. LAUS DEO. It is dbne ! Clang of hell and roar of gun Send the tidings iip and dovjn. How the belfries rock and rM, How the great giins, peal on peal, F]iii.'4 tlie joy fi'om tdivn to tbivn ! whittiek. SCHOOL ELOCUTION, 225 2. CHRISTMAS. Ring out, ye crystal spheres ! Once bless our kuinan ears, If ye have power to toucli our shiscs so ; And let your silver chime Move in melodious time, And let the bass of heaven's deep organ Mow; And with your ninefold harmony Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. Milton. 3. THE OCEAN. EoU on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean — roll ! Ten thousand fleets [ sweep over thee in vain ; Md7i I marks the earth with ruin, — his control | Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain | The 'Wrecks are all tliy deed, nor doth remain | A shadow of man's ravage, save his own. When for a moment, like a drop of rain. He sinks into thy depths | with biibbliug groan. Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. BVRON. 4. THE ORGAN. Suddenly the notes of the deep-laboring organ burst upon the fear, falling with doubled and redoubled inten- sity, and rolling, as it w^re, huge billows of sound. How ivell do their volume and grandeur accord with this mighty building ! With what pomp do they swell through its vast vaults, and breathe their awful har- mony through these caves of d^ath, and make the silent s^pulcher vocal ! And now they rise in triumph and acclamation, heaving higher and higher their accordant notes, and piling sound on sound. And now they pause, and the soft voices of the choir break out into sweet gushes of melody ; they soar aWift, and warble along the rdof, and seem to play about these lofty vaults like the pure airs of hhwen. Again the pealing organ heaves 15 226 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. its thrilling thunders, compressing dir into niiisic, and rolling it forth upon the soul. What long-drawn ca- dences ! What solemn, swhping concords ! It grows more and more dense and jmrcrful ; it fills the vast pile, and seems to jar the rer?/ ivalls ; the ear is stunned, the senses are overwhehned. And now it is winding up in full jxibilee ; it is rising from the earth to heaven; the very soul seems rapt away and floated upwards on this swelling tide of harinomj. irvixg. 5. PEUOIIATION OF WEBSTEIl'S PLYMOUTH ROCK OUATIOX. Advance, then, ye future generations ! We would hail you, as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places which we now fill, and to taste the blessings of existence, where ive are 2^cissing, and soon shall have passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome to tliis pleasant land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful skies and the verdant fiUds of New Eng- land. We greet your accession to the great inheritance which v:e have enjoyed. We welcome you to the bless- ings of good govern I nent and religious llbcrtg. We wel- come you to the treasures of science, and the delights of learning. We welcome you to the transcendent sweets of domestic l\fe, to the happiness of hindred, and parents, and children. We welcome you to the inimeasurahle Messings of rationed existence, the immortal hdpe of Christ idnitg, and the light of everlasting Truth ! 6. GOD IN NATURE. " God," sing ye meadow streams, with gladsome voice ! Ye pine groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds ! Ye living llowers that skirt tlie eternal frost ! Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest ! Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain storm ! Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds ! Ye signs and wonders of the elements! Utter forth "God," and fill tlie hills with praise! From Coleridge's Hymn to Mont Blanc. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 227 7. A NEW year's chime. Ho ! ye wardens of the bells, Biiig ! ring ! ring ! JRing for winter's bracing hours, Ring for birth of spring and flowers, Bing for summer's fruitful treasure, liing for autumn's boundless measure, Bing for hands of generous giving, Biug for vows of nobler living, Bing for truths of tongue or pen, Bing, " Peace on earth, good-will toward men." Bing ! ring ! ring ! Eing, that this glad year may see Earth's accomplished jubilee ! Bing ! ring ! ring ! 8. REVEREXCE. Lord, my God, Thou art very great ! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty ; who coverest thyself with light as with a garment ; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain ; who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters ; who maketh the clouds his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind; who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever. j;^ ^^j^g Examples of Explosive Orotund. 1. THE BATTLE OF IVRY. Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are ! . And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Na- varre ! Now let there be the merry sound of miXsic and the dance^ Through thy cornfields grfeen, and sunny v^les, j^lcas- ant land of Frhnee ! 228 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, And thim, Eochfelle, our bwn Eochelle, proud city of the waters. Again let rcipture light the eyes of all thy mourning daughters ; As tliou wert constant in our ills, be joijous in our joy, For cold and stiff and still are they wlio wrought thy walls annoy. Hurrah ! liurrhh ! a single field hath turned the chance of war. Hurrah ! hurrah ! for Ivry and King Henry of Navhrrc I Macau LAY. 2. KICUMOND TO IMS TKOOI'S. Fight, gentlemen of England ! fight, bold yeomen ! Drhw, archers, draw your arrows to the head: Spur your proud horses hcird, and ride in hlbod ; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves. A thousand hearts are great within my bosom : Advance our standards, set upon our fdes ! Our ancient word of cburage, fair St. George, Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons ! Upon them ! Vietory sits on our helms. Shakespeare. 3. INDEPENDENCE. The great l)ell swung as ne'er before : It seemed as it would never cease; And every word its ardor flung From off its jubilant iron tongue Was, "War! War! WAR!" r,^„. 4. INDEPENDENCE. Sir, before Ghd, I believe the hour is cbmc / My judg- ment approves this measure, and my whole heart is \n it. All that I hdve, and all that I dm, and all that I hbpe, in this life, I am now ready here to stitlce upon it ; and I leave ojj, as I hcghn, that, live or die, survive or SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 229 ph'ish, I am for tlie declaration ! It is my living senti- ment, and, by the blessing of God, it sliall be my dying sentiment — Independence, now, and independence \ forever ! Webster. Explosive and Expulsive Orotund, These two forms of the orotund are often combined in the same piece, and it is not easy to draw a marked line of division. In impassioned declamation the utter- ance changes from one to the other, according to tlie degree of feeling or passion. The following extract aftbrds an illustration : 1. Webster's tribute to Massachusetts. Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts ; she needs none. There she is ; beliold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her liistory ; the world knows it by heart. The ijdst, at least, is secure. There is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill ; and there they will remain forever. The bones of her sons, fallen in the great struggle for Inde- pendence, now lie mingled with the soil of every State, from New England to Georgia ; and there they will lie forever. And, sir, where American Liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured and snstdined, there it still lives, in the strength of its mdnhood, and full of its origincd sjnrit. If discord and disunion shall toound it ; if party strife and blind ambition shall hatvk at and tear it; if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salu- tary and necessary restraint, shall succeed in separating it from that Union by which alone its existence is 7nade sure — it will stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was rbcked ; it will stretch forth its arm, with whatever of vigor it may still retain, over the friends who gather rbund it ; and it will fall at Icist, if 230 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, fall it must, amid the proudest vibnumcnts of its own glory, aud on the very spot of its origin. III. Aspirated Quality. Aspirated quality means, in general, a combination of tone with whisper, causing the huskiness and harshness produced by a superabundance of breath under the in- fluence of powerful emotions, such as anger, rage, terror, and horror. The whisper represents the extreme of aspirated quality. The Whisper. The pure whisper lies half way between breathing and vocality. The half-whisper is a combination of tone and whisper. The forcible whisper is a most val- uable vocal exercise. It requires full, deep, and frequent breatliing, and the vigorous use of the lips, tongue, and other vocal organs. The degrees of force in the whisper are indicated by the terms effusive, expulsive, and ex- plosive. The pure whisper is rarely used in reading, the effect being generally suggested by the half-whisper, or by aspi- rated quality. The following exercises and examples are given for the purposes of vocal training. Table of Aspir.vtes. \_First whisper the words, then tJw aspirates, and then give the phonic gelling of each word in a forcible whisper. ] p p-i-pe, li-]) t t-en-t. t-as-Le wh wh-en, wh-y ch ch-ur-ch. bir-ch f f-i-fe. lea-f sli sh-all, la-sh th th-ick, my-th h h-ow, li-ail s s-ale. le-ss k €a-ke. la-ke school elocution. 231 Whisper Drill. Practice each exercise with three degrees of force : (1) Effusive, or soft. (2) Expulsive, or forcible. (3) Explo- sive, or intense. 1. With effusive force, repeat as many times as pos- sible without taking breath : a-e-I-o-u. 2. To a, e, i, o, u, join /, and repeat as above ; join t; join h. 3. Count, in a whisper, from one to ten, with one breath ; from one to twenty ; one to thirty, or more. Examples of Effusive Whisper. 1. Step softly, and speak low. 2. Whisper ! she is going to her final rest. Whisper! life is growing dim within her breast. 3. Hark ! hist ! around I list. The bounds of space all trace efface Of sound. 4. And his little daughter whispered, As she took his icy hand : " Is n't God upon the water, Just the same as on the land ? " 5. And again to the child I whispered : " The snow that hushcth all. Darling, tlie merciful Father Alone can make it fall ! " 6. And the bridemaidens whispered : " 'Tivcrc letter hj far. To have matched our fair cousin ivith young Lochinvar." 7. The red rose cries, " She is near, she is near ; " And the white rose weeps, " She is late ; " The larkspur listens, " I hear, I hear ; " And the lily whispers, " I wait." 232 school elocution. Examples of Expulsive Whisper. 1. Or whispering with white lips, " The foe ! they come ! they come ! " 2. To bed, to bed ; there 's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, give me your hand. 3. Soldiers ! You are now within a few steps of the enemy's outposts. Let every man keep the strictest silence, under pain of instant death. Examples of Explosive Whisper. 1. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy. For the boats ! Fonvard ! Forward ! 2. Hamlet. Saiv ! iclio ? Horatio. The king, your father. Hamlet. The king, my father ? 3. Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil. That mak'st my blood run cold and my hair to stand ! Whisper and Tone. In some of the following illustrations of aspirated quality, the whisjjer predominates over tone; in others, the aspiration only affects the tone with a marked roughness, huskiness, or aspirated harshness. The extent to which aspirated quality may be applied is often a matter of taste on the part of the reader. EXAMPLES. 1. But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell 2. THE CfRFEW BELL. " Sexton," Bessie's white lips faltered, pointing to the prison old, Witli its walls so dark and gloomy — walls so dark, and damp, and cold — SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 233 "I've a lover in that prison, doomed this very night to die, At the ringing of the Curfew, and no earthly help is nigh. Cromwell will not come till sunset," and her face grew strangely white, As she spoke in husky whispers, " Curfew must not ring to-night." 3. MACBETH TO THE GHOST. Avctunt ! and quit my sight ! Let the earth hide thee ! Thy bones are marroidess, thy blood is cold: Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glcire with ! Hence, horrible shMow ! Unreal mocl'cri/, hence ! 4. HAMLET TO THE GHOST. [Aspirated quality and occasional half -whisper. ^ Angels and ministers of grhce defend us ! Be thou a spirit of li^alth, or goblin damned — Bring with thee airs from hdaven, or blasts from hfell — Be thy intents wicked, or charitable — Thou com'st in such a questionable sliape That I will speak to thee. I'll call thee, Hamlet, King, father, royal Dane : Oh, answer me : Let me not burst in ignorance ! but tell Why thy canonized bones, hearsdd in death, Have burst their cferements ! luliy the sepulcher, Wherein we saw thee quietly inurned, Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws. To cast thee up again ? What may this mean. That thou, dead corse, again, in complete steel, Eevisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon, Making night hideous : and we fools of nature. So horril)ly to shake our disposition. With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls ? Say, u:hy is this ? wherefore .? what should we do .? 234 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 5. FROM "EUGEXE ARAM." [Uorror and remorse. Aspirated pectoral and guttural qiialit)/.] And, lo ! the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame; — Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame : I took the dead man by his hand, And called upon his name ! God ! it made me quake to see Such sense within the slain ! But when I touched the lifeless clay, The blood gushed out amain ! For every clot, a burning spot Was scorching in my brain ! And now, from forth the frowning sky, From the heaven's topmost lieight, • 1 heard a voice — the awful voice Of the blood-avenging sprite : — " Thou guilt]/ 7nan ! take up thy dead And hide it from my sight!" hood. 6. MACBETH. \Horror and fear. Intense suppressed foree; prevailing monotone; very slow movement; strong aspirated quality.] Now o'er the one half w5rld Nature seems dfead : and wicked dreams abiise The ciirtained slfeep ; now witclicraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings ; and withered murder, Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, Whdse howl 's his watch, thus witli his stealthy pace. Towards his design Moves like a ghbst. — Thou sure and firm-set earth ! Hear not my steps, which way they walk ; for lear The very stbnes prate of my whereabout. And take the present horror from the time Which now suits with it. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 235 7. DARIirS GREEN AND HIS FLYING MACHINE. [Secrecy. Forcible whisper and half-whisjycr.^ And one by one, through a hole in the wall, In under the dusty barn they crawl, Dressed in their Sunday garments all ; And a very astonishing sight was that, When each in his cobwebbed coat and hat Came up through the floor like an ancient rat. And there they hid ; And Reuben slid The fastenings back, and the door undid. " Keep dark ! " said he, "While I squint an' see what the' is to see." '' Hush ! " Eeuben said, "He's up in the shed! He 's opened the winder — I see his head ! He stretches it out, an' pokes it about, Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear. An' nobody near; — Guess he don' o' who 's hid in here ! He 's riggin' a spring-board over the sill ! Stop laffin', Solomon ! Burke, keep still ! He 's a-climbing out now — Of all the things ! What's he got on? I van, it's wings! An' that 't other thing? I vum, it's a tail! An' there he sets like a hawk on a rail ! Steppin' careful, he travels the length Of his spring-board, and teeters to try its strengtli. Now he stretches his wings, like a monstrous bat ; Peeks over his shoulder, this way an' that, Per to see 'f there 's any one passin' by ; But there 's on'y a ca'f an' a goslin' nigh. Flop — flop — an' plump To the ground with a thump, Flutterin' and flounderin' all in a lump." Trowbridge. 236 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Special Aspirate Drill, [In pronouncing the following tcords having the comhinaiion hw, the aspiration is often very feebly given or not given at all, Sound Vie hw with marked force."] way wear weal wen were wine wight wile whey where wheel when %ohir whine white while wet wit wot wig wield witch wist weather whet ivhit ichat whig ivhcded which u'hist whether Pronunciation Drill. [Keep the lungs each word.] well filed tvith air and exhaust the breath upon whale whalebone whatever whap whapper whatsoever wharf wharfage wheelbarrow wheat what-not wheel-horse wheeze wheeziug whe(;lwriglit whelp whereas wliensoever whelm wherever wheresoever whence whenever whereabout whew whereby whereunto I wliiff wherefore wherewithal wliiiu whiflle whimper whip whinny wlii))sa\v whir whirlwind whirligig M-liirl whistle whisper wliisk whittle whizzing white whither wlioa SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 237 IV. GuTTUKAL Quality. The guttural, or throat, quality is the harsh, grating, rasping utterance to which the voice tends in the ex- pression of hatred, contempt, revenge, and loathing. It is often combined with aspirated quality in the expres- sion of extreme impatience or disgust, intense rage, and extreme contempt. EXAMPLES. 1. OTHELLO. Oh, that the slave had forty thousand lives, My great revenge had stomach for them all. 2. THE SPY. You shall die, base dog ! and that before Yon cloud has passed over the sun I 3. SHYLOCK TO ANTONIO. Signior Antonio, many a time and 6ft, On the Eiiilto you have rated me About my moneys and my usances; Still have I home it with a patient sliriig, For sufferance is the badge of cdl our tribe : You call me — misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine hum. Well, then, it now appears, you need my help. Go to, thfen ; you eomc to me, and you say, "Shylock, we would have mdneys ;" you say so; You, that did void your rheum upon my heard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold ; moneys is your suit. What should I say to you ? Should I not say, "Hath a dog money? is it possible A cur can lend three thousand diicats?" or Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, With bated breath, and whispering humbleness, 238 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Say this: — "Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday last; You spArncd me such a day ; another time You called me — (^og ; and for these courtesies I'll Ihul you — thus much — moneys." V. The Falsetto. The falsetto is the thin, sharp, high-pitched tone pro- duced when the voice breaks, or gets above its natural compass. It is used by men when they imitate the voices of women and children. It is the tone suitable for the expression of old age, siciv:ness, feebleness, pain, and helpless terror. 1. " Mij child! my child!'' with sobs and tears. She shrieked upon his callous ears. 2. " Billy — M'liere are you, Billy, I say ? Come, Billy, come home to your best of mothers ! " 3. And even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratoliits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried, " Hurrah ! " 4. Mr. Orator Puff had two tones in his voice. The one S([ueakiug thus, and the other down so ; In each sentence he uttered he gave you your clioice ; For one half was B alt, and the rest G below. Oh ! oh ! Orator Puff, One voice for an orator 's surely enough ! "Oh! save!" he exclaimed, in his lie-and-she tones, " Help me out ! help me out ! I have broken my bones ! " " Help you out ! " said a stranger, wlio passed, " what a bother! Why, there 's two of you there ; can *t you help one another ? " Oh! oh! Orator Puff, One voice for an orator 's surely enough ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 239 5. And in a coaxing tone he cries, "Chared! chared!" And baby with a laugh replies, "Ah, go! Ah, (jo !" " Chared! " — " Ah, go ! " VI. The Semitone. When the voice slides through the interval of a semi- tone only, it gives the plaintive tones expressive of sadness, grief, or pathetic entreaty. If the inflection runs through the interval of a tone and a half — a minor third in music — it becomes 'more plaintive, and marks a stronger degree of pathos or sadness ; and when the inflection extends into the minor fifth, it denotes still stronger pathetic feeling. The semitone, then, is the plahitive tone in reading, corresponding to the minor key in music. It should be used delicately, for, in excess, it runs into the whine, or becomes the affectation of cant. Semitone Drill. 1. Sound the vocals, a, e, T, 6, ti, three times, on the interval between C and C sharp ; then on the minor thii'd ; then on the minor fifth. 2. Count from one to twenty on the same notes as above. Examples of Semitone. 1. come in life, or come in death, lost ! my love, Elizabeth. 2. For I am poor and miserably old. 3. How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father and will say to him. 240 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants ! " 4. MY CHILD. I can not make him dead ! His fair sunshiny Mad Is ever bounding round my study ch^ir; Yet, when my eyes, now dim With tears, I turn to him, The vision vanishes, he is not there ! I walk my parlor floor. And, through the open door, I hear a footfall on the chamber stair; I 'm stepping toward the hall To give the boy a call ; And then bethink me that he is not there /• PlEEPONT. 5. Hiawatha. the long and dreary Winter ! O the cold and cruel Winter ! Ever thicker, thicker, thicker Froze the ice on lake and river; Ever deeper, deeper, deeper Fell the snow o'er all the landscape, Fell the covering snow, and drifted Through the forest, round the village. O the famine and the fever ! the wasting of the famine ! O the blasting of the fever! O the wailing of the children ! the anguish of the women ! All the earth was sick and famished ; Hungry was the air around them, Hungry was the sky above them, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 241 And the hungry stars in heaven Like the eyes of wolves glared at them ! " Give your children food, Father ! Give us food, or we must perish ! Give me food for Minnehaha, For my dying Minnehaha!" Through the far-resounding forest, Through the forest vast and vacant Rang that cry of desolation ; But there came no other answer Than the echo of his crying, Than the echo of the woodlands, "Minnehaha! Minnehaha!" Longfellow. 6. BABIE BELL. It came upon us by degrees, We saw its shadow ere it fell, The knowledge that our God had sent -His messenger for Babie Bell. We shuddered with unlanguaged pain, And all our thoughts ran into tears, Like sunshine into rain. We cried aloud in our belief, " Oil, smite us gently, gently, God ! Teach vs to bend and kiss the rod, And perfect grow through grief." Ah, how we loved her, God co.n tell ; Her heart was folded deep in ours ; Our hearts are hrohen, Bahie Bell. aldrich To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Shakespeare. 16 ' 242 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. NEW year's eve. You '11 bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade ; And you 11 come sometimes and see me where I am lowly laid. I shall not t'ovget you, motlier; I shall hear you when you pass, "With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass. Good-night, good-night ! AVhen I have said good-night for evermore. And you see me carried out from tlie threshold of the door. Do n't let Eflfie come to see me till my grave be growing green — She 'II be a better child to you than ever I have been. Ti:xxysoN's May Queen. 9. FROM "bertha IX THE LANE." [Tills extract should be read xoith subdued force, sloio movement, and frevailing 'poetic monotone and semitmie.'] Colder grow my hands and feet ; — When I Avear the shroud I made. Let the folds lie straight and neat. And the rosemary be spread ; — That if any friend should come (To see thee, sweet !), all the room May be lifted out of gloom. And, dear Bertha, let me keep On my hand this little ring — Which at nights, Avhen others sleep, I can still see glittering. Let me wear it out of sight, In the grave — where it will light All the dark up, day and night. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 243 Oil that grave drop not a tear ! Else, though fathom-deep the place, Through the woolen shroud I wear I shall feel it on my face. Eather smile there, blessed one, Thinking of me in the sun ; Or forget me— smiling on ! e. b. browning. VII. Eecapitulation OF Quality. 1. Pure tone is the tone of ordinary conversation, and of ufiimjjassiojicd didactic, narrative, or descrijjtive reading. 2. The orotund is the tone expressive of deep feeling, of reverence, of sublimity, and of grandeur. It prevails in oratorical declamation, and in the reading or recita- tion of lyric or dramatic poetry. 3. Aspirated quality is expressive of secrecy, feebleness, terror, horror, and amazement. 4. Gidtural quality is expressive of disgust, impatience, hatred, and revenge. 5. The semitone is the plaintive expression, in the mijior key, of jJif'ihos, pity, grief, or entreaty. Examples of Quality. PURE TONE. Was it the chime of a tiny bell That came so sweet to my dreaming ear ? OROTUND. 1. Build thee more stately mansions, my soul ! 2. And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow. WHISPER. To bed, to bed ; there 's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, give me your hand. 244 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. ASPIRATED. Angels, and ministers of grace, defend us. GUTTURAIi. How like a fawning publican he looks ! SEMITONE. For Heaven's sake, Hubert, let me not be bouud. VIII. General Review Drill. 1. Repeat, three times, the long vowel sounds, a, e, I, 5, li : (1) With moderate rising inflection. (2) Moderate falling inflection. (3) High rising inflection. (4) Em- pliatic falling inflection. (5) High rising circumflex. (G) Emotional falling circumflex. (7) Low monotone. 2. Repeat, three times, a, e, I, o, ii : (1) With very- soft force. (2) With soft force. (3) With moderate force. (4) Loud force. (5) Very loud force. 3. Repeat, three times, a, e, I, o, ii : (1) With the median stress. (2) With the radical stress. (3) With compound stress. (4) With vanishing stress. (5) Thor- ough stress. (6) With intermittent stress. 4. Repeat, three times, a, e, I, o, ii : (1) With slow movement. (2) With moderate movement. (3) With fast movement. 5. Repeat, three times, a, o, i, o, u : (1) With very- high pitch. (2) Witli high pitch. (3) With middle pitch. (4) W^ith low pitcli. (o) With very low pitcli. 6. Repeat, three times, a, e, I, 5, u : (1) With the whisper. (2) W^ith pure tone. (3) With the orotund. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 245 CHAPTER VI. MODULATION AND STYLE OF EXPRESSION. SECTION I. MODULATION. 1. Modulation is the variation in the tones of the voice in order to express the ever-varying thought, feeling, emotion, or passion to be expressed. 2. These changes depend largely upon the perception, taste, and judgment of readers ; upon the extent to which readers are capable of entering into the spirit of what they read ; and upon the flexibility of the voice in expressing different shades of emotion by appropri- ate tones. 3. There are certain general principles that control modulation, but there are no fixed rules of detail which can be applied in the exercise of " good taste." 4. " The importance of this principle of adaptation of voice," says Prof. William Eussell, " may be perceived by adverting to the fact, that nothing so impairs the effect of address, as the want of spirit and expression in elocution. 5. " No gravity of tone, or intensity of utterance, or precision of enunciation, can atone for the absence of that natural change of voice, by which the ear is enabled to receive and recognize the tones of the various emo- tions accompanying the train of thought which the speaker is expressing. These, and these only, can indi- 246 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. cate his own sense of what he utters, or communicate it by sympathy to his audience. 6. " The adaptation of the voice to the expression of sentiment is not less important, when considered in ref- erence to meaning, as dependent on distinctions strictly intellectual, or not necessarily implying a vivid or varied succession of emotions. 7. " The correct and adequate representation of con- tinuous or successive thought, requires its appropriate intonation ; as may be observed in those tones of voice which naturally accompany discussion and argument, even in their most moderate forms. 8. "The modulation or varying of tone is important, also, as a matter of cultivated taste. It is the appropri- ate grace of vocal expres.sion ; it has a charm founded in the constitution of our nature ; it touches the finest and deepest sensibilities of the soul ; it constitutes the spirit and eloquence of the human voice, whether re- garded as the noblest instrument of music, or the appointed channel of thought and feeling." I. GENER.A.L PllINCIPLES. 1. A loiv key is the natural expression of awe, rever- ence, solemnity, sadness, and melancholy ; a high hey, of violent passions, such as anger and rage, joy and exulta- tion. The oiriddle Jccy is the natural pitch of conversation, and of uninipassioned narrative, descriptive, or didactic writing. 2. Soft or gentle force is expressive of subdued feeling, pathos, and tenderness ; loncl force, of strong passions and oratorical declamation ; moderate force, of unimpas- sioned thought. 3. Slow movement is appropriate to the expression of deep thought, power, grandeur, sublimity, solenmity ; fast movement is characteristic of vivacity, joy, and uncon- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 247 trolled passion ; moderate movement, of unimpassioned narrative, descriptive, or didactic pieces. 4. The ivliis'pcr is expressive of secrecy, silence, or extreme fear ; guttural quality, of revenge, hatred, despair, horror, or loathing ; the orotund, of power, grandeur, vastness, sublimity ; the falsetto, of puerility or weak- ness ; the semitone, of sadness and pathetic entreaty. 5. The radical stress is expressive of command, assertion, force, power, and excited feelings ; the median stress, of peace, tranquillity, solemnity, grandeur, sub- limity, reverence, and awe. 6. Then there is the variety that arises from imitative reading, or the suiting of the sound to the word, phrase, or sentence ; and that of jjcrsonation, or the changes of expression to denote the different characters in a dia- logue or play. II. Style of Eeading. 1. The following analysis of a good style of reading is taken from Russell's " American School Eeader " : " If we observe attentively tlie voice of a good reader or speaker, we shall find liis style of utterance marked by the following traits. His voice pleases the ear by its very sound. It is wholly free from affected suavity ; yet, while perfectly natural, it is round, smooth, and agreeable. It is equally free from the faults of feeble- ness and of undue loudness. 2. " It is perfectly distinct, in the execution of every sound, in every word. It is free from errors of negli- gent usage and corrupted style in pronunciation. It avoids a measured, rhythmical chant, on the one hand, and a broken, irregular movement, on the other. 3. "It renders expression clear, l)y an attentive ob- servance of appropriate pauses, and gives weight and effect to sentiment, by occasional impressive cessations of voice. It sheds light on the meaning of sentences, 248 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. by the emphatic force which it gives to significant and expressive words. 4. " It avoids the ' school ' tone of uniform inflections, and varies the voice upward or downward, as the suc- cessive clauses of a sentence demand. It marks the character of every emotion, by its peculiar traits of tone ; and hence its effect upon the ear, in the utterance of connected sentences and paragraphs, is like that of a varied melody, in music, played or sung with ever- varying feeling and expression," SECTION IL THE READING OF POETRY. I. Introductoky. 1. Pupils are sometimes told to read verse as if it were prose. Such a direction may be given to counteract the tendency to sing-song, or it may be applied in the reading of doggerel rhymes; but it cannot be applied to the reading of 'poeiry. 2. Poetry, being the language of imagination, senti- ment, or passion, requires, as compared with prose, a greater variety of expression. Moreover, poetry is rhythmical and melodious, and, in reading it, attention must be given to movement and hatmony. 3. " The modulation of the voice," says Prof. Piussell, " in adaptation to different species of metrical composi- tion, is indispensable to the appropriate or effective reading of verse. The purest forms of poetry become, when deprived of this aid, nothing but awkward prose. A just and delicate observance of the effect of meter, on the other hand, is one of the surest means of im- parting that inspiration of feeling which it is the de- sign of poetry to produce." SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 249 4. In the reading of poetry, the pupil should bear in mind the following hints : (1) The movement, or time, in verse, is generally slower than in prose, the vowel and liquid sounds being slightly prolonged. (2) In poetry, as compared with pi'ose, the force, is somewdiat softened for the sake of melody. (3) The existence of meter in poetry requires a rendering of verse different from the reading of prose. The meter should not be made prominent, but should be delicately indicated. As in prose, attention must be given to the sense, to em- phasis, and to inflection. II. C.ESURAL Pauses. The caesural pause is a sliglit rest occurring some- where near the middle of the line in certain kinds of verse. In heroic and blank verse, it commonly falls at the end of the fourth syllable. In smoothly written verse, the grammatical pause marking a phrase or a clause is often made to coincide with the caesural pause. EXAMPLES. 1. This is the place, | the centre of the grove : Here stands the oak, | the monarch of the wood. How sweet and solemn | is this midnight scene ! The silver moon, | unclouded, holds her way Through skies where I | could count each little star; The fanning west wind | scarcely stirs the leaves. 2. A man he was | to all the country dear. And passing rich | with forty pounds a year; Remote from towns | he ran his godly race. Nor e'er had changed, ] nor wished to change, his place ; Unpracticed he ] to fawn, or seek for power, By doctrines fashioned | to the varying hour; Far other aims ] his heart had learned to prize. More skilled to raise [ the wretched than to rise. 250 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. III. Meter, or Rhythmical Accent. 1. Meter is the measure of rhythm, or metrical feet, in poetry. One diHereuce between the reading of prose and of poetry consists in the distinctive marking of the rhythm in verse. If read without regard to rhythm, the sonorous harmony of the higher forms of poetry is lost. 2. As some knowledge of prosody is generally obtained from the school te.xt-books on rhetoric, only an allusion to the subject is necessary in a manual of elocution. 3. In reading poetry, the measure should be delicately indicated, but not made so prominent as to run into sing-song, or to break the grammatical relation of words. 4. The melody of verse often depends on making some word, or successive words, slightly emphatic, as in the following line from Longfellow's " Psalm of Life : " "And things | are not \ ivhat they ] seem." If " not " is emphasized, the rhythm is broken. So in the successive stanzas of Bryant's "Planting of the Apple-tree," the emphasis in the last line of the suc- cessive stanzas falls as follows : 1. " So 'plant we | the apple-tree." 2. "When we plant ] the ai^ple-tree" etc. IV. Kinds of Verse. 1. The following summary from Prof. Piussell's "Amer- ican Elocutionist " may be of interest to the critical student: "The influence of the various kinds of verse on the voice may be considered as aifecting generally the rate, or movement, and the time, of utterance. 2. " Thus, hlank verse is remarkably slow and stately in the character of its tone ; and the timing of the pauses requires attention chiefly to length. Heroic verse is commonly in the same prevailing strain, but not to such an extent as the preceding. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 251 3. "The odo-syUabic meter is generally more quick and lively in its movement, and tlie pauses are comparatively brief. But, under the influence of slow time, it gives intensity to grief, and tenderness to the pathetic tone. 4. " The quatrain, or four-lined stanza, in the common form (called sometimes common meter), has a compara- tively musical arrangement of the lines, and a peculiar character in its cadence, which admits of its expressing the extremes of emotion whether grave or gay. It prevails, accordingly, in hymns and in ballads alike, wliether the latter are |?a^/it'^w or humorous. It derives the former character from the observance of slow rate, and the lat- ter from quick rate. 5. " Trochaic verse has a peculiar energy, from the abruptness of its character — the foot commencing either with a long or an accented syllable. In gay 2neces, and with quick time in utterance, it produces a dancing strain of voice, peculiai'ly adapted to the expression of joy ; while in grave and vehement strains, with slow time, it produces the utmost force and severity of tone. These two extremes are strikingly exemplified in Milton's ' L' Allegro ' and ' II Penseroso.' 6. " Ana2)C€stic meter has a peculiar /?///7ics,s and sweet- ness of melody. Sloiv time accordingly renders it deeply pathetic, and quick time renders it the most graceful expression of joy. This, as well as iambic and trochaic verse, becomes well fitted to express the mood of calm- ness and tranquillity, when the rede is rendered moderate." V. Accent of Words. The accent of a word is sometimes changed to prevent breaking the measure, as in the following examples : 1. Ye icefalls ! ye that from your dizzy heights Adown enormous rav^ines slope amain. 2. That thou, dead corse, arrayed in co^^'plete steel. 252 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 3. And these few precepts in thy memory, see thou cbarac'ter. 4. Then lend the eye a terrible asjjecf. 5. I must be patient till the heavens look witli an as^^ec^ more favorable. Yl. Final -ed. The final -ed is often sounded as a separate syllable, to prevent a break in the meter. EXAMPLES. 1. To live with her and live with thee In unreproveVZ pleasures free. 2. Of linked sweetness long drawn out. 3. Rode aimed men adown the glen. 4. Through this the well-beloveVZ Brutus stabbed. 5. And as he plucked his cnrsed steel away. 6. To wear an undeservetZ dignity. 7. That ovhed maiden with white fire laden. 8. Whereat she smiled with so sweet a cheer. 9 While tliat the armdd hand doth fight abroad, The advised head defends itself at home. YII. ElIYME. In reading poetry, the words that rhyme must some- times be specially emphasized. Sometimes, also, the pro- nunciation of a word may be changed to make it rhyme Milh another word, as wiud for wind. In reading the following couplet from Hudibras, "And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic, He beat with drum instead of a stick," it becomes necessary to emphasize the a, or rather to SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 253 sound the two words "a stick" like a word of two syl- lables accented on the first, thus — a'stich. In reading the following lines from the same poem, the word " coloneling " is pronounced exactly as it is spelled, coto ncl ing, in four syllables : " Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling. And out he rode a-coloncling." Also, in the following, "And wisely tell what hour o' tli' day The clock does strike, by algebra," the long sound is given to final a in algebra, to make the word rhyme with day. In the following couplets from Holmes, the rhyming words are italicized for emphasis : " It is a pity and a shame — alas ! alas ! I knoiv it is. To tread the trodden grapes again, but so it has been, so it is." In this example the three words, " know it is," are pronounced like a word of three syllables, accented on the first, thus — hnow'-it-is ; so, also, so'-it-is. VIII, Examples of Ehyme. 1. AT THE ATLANTIC DINNER. I suppose it 's myself that you 're making allusion to. And bringing the sense of dismay and confusion to. Of course soine must speak — they are always selected to. But pray what 's the reason that I am expected to ? I 'm not fond of wasting my breath as those fellows do That want to be blowing forever as bellows do ; Their legs are uneasy, but why will you jog any That long to stay quiet beneath the mahogany ? Holmes. 2. CLASS MEETING, 187.5. It is a pity and a shame — alas ! alas ! I know it is. To tread the trodden grapes again, but so it has been, so it is ; 254 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Tlie purple vintage long is past, with ripened clusters bursting; so They filled the wine-vats to the brim — 't is strange you will be thirsting so ! For who can tell by what he likes what other people's fancies are ? How all men think the best of wives their own par- ticular Nancies are ! If what I sing you brings a smile, you will not stop to catechise, Nor read Boeotia's lumltering line with nicely scanning Attic eyes. Though on the once unfurrowed brows the harrow-teeth of Time may show, Though all the strain of crippling years the lialting feet of rhyme may show, AYe look and hear with melting liearts, fur what we all remember is The morn of Spring, nor heed how chill the sky of gray November is. Thanks to the gracious powers above from all mankind that singled us, And dropped the pearl of friendship in the cup they kindly mingled us, And bound us in a wreath of fiowcrs with hoops of steel knit under it; — Nor time, nor space, nor chance, nor change, nor deatli himself shall sunder it ! holmes. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 255 SECTION III. I MIT A TJ VE HE A BIN G. The extent to which imitative reading, or the suiting of sound to sense, may properly be carried, in certain chisses of selections, is a matter in regard to which tliere is a diversity of opinion among elocutionists. It is one of those questions of taste that cannot he regu- lated by definite directions applicable to all cases. Some general principles, however, may be laid down, from which there is no intelliizent dissent. The style of reading should be imitative in the sense of making it conform to the spirit and meaning of the piece. In the utterance of words in which the sound seems to approximate to the sense, such as huzz, hiss, thunder, groan, sigh, scream, etc., the tone may be suggestive of the idea. Thus, in reading such passages as, " From his lips escaped a groan" though an actual groan would be ridiculous, the W'ord " groan " may be uttered so as to suggest a groan. EXAMPLES. 1. Hear the loud alarum bells — hrcizcn hells. 2. Clang ! elang I tlie massive anvils ring. 3. Bloio, bugle ; answer echoes, dying, dying, dying. 4. Oh ! the hells I what a tale their terror tells Of despair ! How they clang, and clash, and roar, What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air ! Wherever the author distinctly suggests an imitation, it should be given so far as is consistent with good taste. Thus, when Longfellow writes, " And loud that clarion voice replied," 256 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. it is evident that tlie refrain, " Excelsior ! " should be given in a loud, clear, resonant manner. Examples for Peactice. 1. A voice replied far np the height, "Excelsior!" 2. She seemed in the same silver tones to say, " Passing away, passing away ! " 3. What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking, "Xevermore." 4. An ancient time-piece says to all, " Forever — never ! Never — -forever ! " 5. "To all the truth we tell, we tell," Shouted in ecstasies a bell. 6. BUNKER HILL. How the bayonets gleamed and glistened, as we looked far down and listened To the tramjylinu and the drum-heat of the belted gren- adiers. Over heaps all torn and gory — shall I tell the fearful story, How they surged above the hreastivork as a sea hreal:^ der a deck ; How, driven, yet scarce defeated, our M^orn-out men retreated, "Witli their powder-horns all emptied, like the swimmers from a wreck! holmes. Imitation should not be too literal. The attempt is sometimes made in reading Tennyson's "Bugle Song," to give a realistic imitation of the notes of a bugle. While the professional reader may attempt such a feat of vocal gymnastics, it is certainly outside of the limits of good taste in school reading. The words, " Blow, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 257 bugle, blow," may be given with a prolonged swell, and in a thin, ckar, pure tone, so as to suggest the bugle note. So in reciting Poe's " Bells," the imitative renderinsr is often carried to a ridiculous extreme. In these and similar cases it is not a literal reproduction of the sound that should be attempted, but an artistic and idealized suggestion of it. EXAMPLES. 1. And grummer, grummer, grummer. Rolled the drum of the drummer, Through the morn. And rounder, rounder, rounder, Roared the iron six-pounder. Hurling death. 2. I hear them marching o'er the hill ; I hear them fainter, fainter stilL 3. CHURCH BELLS. " In deeds of love, excel ! excel ! " Chimed out from ivied towers a bell. " heed the ancient landmarks well ! " In solemn tones exclaimed a bell. " Ye purifying waters swell ! " In mclloio tones rung out a bell. "To all the truth we tell! we tell!" Shouted in ecstasies a bell. 4. WHEN THE cows COME HOME. When klingle, klangie, klingle, Far down the dusty dingle, The cows are coming home ; Xow sweet and clear, now faint and low, The airy tinkliugs come and go, Like chimings from the far-off tower, 17 258 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Or patterings of an April shower That makes the daisies grow. Ivo-ling, ko-lang, kolinglelingle, Far down the darkeninsf dingle. The cows are coming home. 5. CnAKCOAL. And thus from morn to eve he cried, " Charco' ! charco' ! " While echo faint and far replied, " Charco' !"—« Hark, 0!" And in a coaxing tone he cries, " Charco' ! charco' ! " And baby with a laiigh replies, " Ah, go ! "— " Ah, go ! " " Charco' ! "— " Ah, go ! " Trowbridge. 6. FIRE. Fire ! fire ! fire ! See the red flames leaping higher. Feed ! feal I 'pcal ! Bells of brass and bells of steel. Crash ! crash ! crash ! See the fiery surges lash ! Fire ! fire ! fire ! Bristles every tli robbing wire. 7. EXCELSIOR. And like a silver clarion rung — " Excelsior ! " And from his lips escaped a groan — " Excelsior l^ But still he answered with a sigh — "Excelsior !" A voice replied far up tlie height — "Excelsior !" 8. THE BELLS. Hear tlic sledges with tlie hells — silver bells ! . What a world of mh'riment their melody foretells ! SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 259 Hear the mellow wklding bells — {joldeii bells ! What a world of hdppi7icss their harmony foretells ! Hear the loud alarum bells — brazen bells ! What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells ! Hear the tolling of the bells — iron bells ! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! POE. SECTION IV. EXERCISES IN MODULATION. Modulation is the variation of voice according to the sentiment, thought, or emotion to be expressed. In im- passioned reading, tones are the most prominent quali- ties of voice. Thorough drill on the following examples will break up the tendency of pupils to read all kinds of selections in one formal " school-tone." It is left for teachers and pupils to exercise their own judgment and taste in the rendering of these extracts, which embrace a wide range of expression. EXAMPLES. 1. Blow, bugle, blow, set the Mild echoes flyiug, Blow, bugle, answer echoes, dying, dying, dying. 2. The loud wind dwindled to a whisper low. 3. There is a silence where no sound may be. 4. I hear them marching o'er the hill, I hear tliem fainter, fainter still. 5. " Cusha, cusha, cusha," calling. 6. To arms ! to arms ! to arms ! they cry. 7. Arm! arm ! — it is — it is the cannon's opening roar. 8. Advance your standards, draw your willing swords ! 260 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 9. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man. 10. Ring, joyous chords ! — ring out again ! 11. Eoll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roIL 12. Come and trip it, as ye go, On the li"ht fantastic toe. 13. But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a ris- ' ing knell. 14. Away ! away ! and on we dash. 15. Forivard the light brigade! 16. All's hushed as midnight yet. 17. Hail ! holy light, offspring of Heaven, first born. 18. Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! 19. Silence how dead ! and darkness how profound ! 20. Or whispering with white lips, " The foe ! they come, tliey come ! " 21. Joy ! joy ! Shout, shout aloud for joy I 22. Strike ! till the last armed foe expires ! 23. How like a fawning publican he looks ! 24. Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death ! 25. liing the alarm-bell ! Murder ! and treason ! 26. Hide softly ! ride slowly ! tlie onset is near ! Move slowly ! move softly ! tlie sentr}^ may hear. 27. No ! by St. Bride of Bothwell, no 1 28. On a sudden open fly The infernal gates, and on tlioir hinges grate Harsh tlnmder ! 29. Heaven opened wide Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound, On iiolden hinges turninfj. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 261 30. But gentler now tlie small waves glide, Like playful lambs on a mountain side. 31. With many a weary step, and many a groan, Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone. 32. When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line, too, labors, and the words move slow. 33. Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows. But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar. 34. Clang ! clang ! the massive anvils ring, Clang ! clang ! a hundred hammers swing j Like the thunder rattle of a tropic sky, The mighty blows still multiply. 35. SONG OF THE SHIRT. Work ! work ! work I Till the brain begins to swim ; Work ! work ! work ! Till the eyes are heavy and dim ! Seam, and gusset, and baud, Band, and gusset, and seam, Till over tlie buttons I fall asleep. And sew them on in a dream ! hood. 36. THE TWO VOICES FROM THE GRAVE. First Voice. How frightful the grave ! how deserted and drear ! With the howls of the storm-wind, the creaks of the bier. And the white bones all clattering together ! Second Voice. How peaceful the grave ! its quiet how deep ! Its zephyrs breathe calmly, and soft is its sleep, And flow'rets perfume it with ether. 262 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 37. MILITARY COMMAND. " Forward the Light Brigade ! Charge for the guus ! " he said. Shoulder arms ! Forward march ! Halt ! Charge ! Chester, charge ! On ! Stanley, on ! 38. THE hekald's call. Rejoice, ye men of Angiers, ring your bells, King John, your king and England's, doth approach. Open your gates and give the victor way. SECTION" V. DIALECT BEADING AND PERSONATION. lu dialect reading, the peculiarities of speech should be reproduced with fidelity, but should not be exagger- ated. In the reading of dialogues there is, of necessity, a marked change of tone and manner when the reader personates two or more characters. Examples of Dlvlect Reading. 1. SKIPPER IRESON's RIDE. Scores of women, old and young, Strong of muscle, and glib of tongue, Piislied and pulled up the rocky lane, Shoutino- and sinaing the shrill refrain : " Here 's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd Iwrrt, Torrd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt By the loomcn d Morhle'cad !" -whittier. 2. THE deacon's masterpiece. But the Deacon swore, as deacons do. With an " / deio viim," or an " / tell ycou" He would build one shay to beat the iaown, 'n' the kaonnty 'n' all the Tceniry raouvH ; It should be so built that it couldvH break daown. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 263 "Fur," said the Deacon, "'t's mighty plain Thut the weakes' phice mus' stan' the strain ; 'ii' the way t' fix it, uz I maintain, Is only jest T' make that place uz strong uz the rest." HoiriEs. 3. SPRING. little city-gals, do n't never go it Blind on the word o' noospaper or poet ! They're apt to puff, an' May-day seldom looks Up in the country ez it doos in books ; They're no more like than hornets'-nests an' hives, Or printed sarmons be to holy lives. I, with my trouses perched on cow-hide boots, Tuggin' my foundered feet out by the roots, Hev seen ye come to fling on April's hearse Your muslin nosegays from the milliner's — Puzzlin' to find dry ground your queen to choose, An' dance your throats sore in morocker shoes ; 1 've seen ye an' felt proud, thet, come wut would. Our Pilgrim stock wuz pithed with hardihood. Pleasure does make us Yankees kind o' winch, Ez though 'twuz sumthin' paid for by the inch ; But yit we du contrive to worry thru — Ef Dooty tells us thet the thing's to du — An' kerry a hollerday, ef we set out, Ez stiddily ez though 'twuz a redoubt. lowell. 4. THE GRIDIRON. Patrick. I beg pardon, sir ; but maybe I 'm under a mistake, but I thought I was in France, sir. An't you all furriners here ? Parley voo frongsay ? Frenchman. Oui, monsieur. Patrick. Then, would you lind me the loan of a grid- iron, if you plase ? I know it 's a liberty I take, sir ; but it 's only in the regard of bein' cast away ; and if you plase, sir, parley voo frongsay ? 264 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Frenchman. Oui, monsieur, oui. Fatrick. Then would you lind me the loan of a grid- iron, sir, and you '11 obleege me ? Frencliman. Monsieur, pardon, monsieur — Fatrick. Then lind mo. the loan of a gridiron, I say. Frenchmcin. Oui, oui, monsieur. Patrick. Then lind me the loan of a gridiron, and howld your prate. Well, I'll give you one chance more, you owld thafe! Are you a Christian, at all, at all? Are you a furriner that all the world calls so p'lite ? Bad luck to you ! do you understand your mother tongue ? Parley voo frongsay ? ( Very loud.) Parley voo frongsay ? Frenchman. Oui, monsieur, oui, oui. Fatrick. (Screaming.) Thin Unci me the loan of a gridiron ! 5. AFTER-DINNER SPEECH BY A FRENCHMAN. " ]\Iilors and Gentlemans — You excellent chairman, M. le Baron de Mount-Stuart, he have say to me, ' Make de toast.' Den I say to him dat I have no toast to make ; but he nudge my elbow ver soft, and say dat dere is von toast dat nobody but von Frenchman can make proper ; and, derefore, Avid your kind permission, I vill make de toast. ' De brevete is de sole of de feet,' as you great philosophere, Dr. Johnson, do say, in dat amusing little vork of his, de Pronouncing Dictionnaire ; and, derefore, I vill not say ver moch to de point. " Ah ! mes amis ! ven I hear to myself de flowing speech, de oration magnifique of you Lor' j\Iaire, Mon- sieur Gobbledown, I feel dat it is von great privilege for von Stranger to sit at de same table, and to eat de same food, as dat grand, dat majestique man, who are de terreur of de voleurs and de brigands of de metrop- olis; and who is also, I for to suppose, a halterman and de chief of you common scoundrel. Milors and SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 265 gentlemans, I feel dat I can perspire to no greatare honneur dun to be von common scoundrelman myself; but, hdlas ! dat plaisir are not for me, as I arc not free- man of your great citd, not von liveryman servant of von of you compagnies joint-stock. But I must not forget de toast. " Milors and Gentlemans ! De immortal Shakispeare he have write, ' De ting of beauty are de joy for never- more.' It is de ladies who are de toast. Vat is more entrancing dan de charmante smile, de soft voice, de vinkiug eye of de beautiful lady ! It is de ladies who do sweeten de cares of life. It is de ladies who are de guiding stars of our existence. It is de ladies who do cheer but not inebriate, and, derefore, vid all homage to dere sex, de toast dat I have to propose is, 'De Ladies i God bless deni all ! ' " 6. DUNDREARY IN THE COUNTRY. 1. Diwectly after the season is over in town, I always go into the countwy. To tell you the twuth, I hate the countwy — it 's so awful dull — there 's such a howid noise of nothing all day; and there is nothing to see but gween twees, and cows, and buttercups, and wab- bits, and all that sort of cattle — I do n't mean exactly cattle either, but animals, you know. 2. And then the earwigs get into your hair-bwushes if you leave the bed-woom window open ; and if you lie down on the gwass, those howid gwasshoppers, all legs, play at leap-frog over your nose, which is howible torture, and makes you weady to faint, you know, if it is not too far to call for assistance. 3. And the howid sky is always blue, and everything bores you ; and they talk about the sunshine, as if there was more sunshine in tlie countwy than in the city — which is abthurd, you know — only the countwy sun is hotter, and bvvings you all out in those howid fweckles, 266 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. and turns you to a fwiteful bwicky color, which the wetches call healthy. 4. As if a healthy man must lose his complexion, and become of a bwicky wed color — ha, ha ! — b\\icky — howid — bwicky wed color — cawoty wed color ! 7. THE HEATHEN CHIXEE. "Which I wish to remark — And my language is plain — That for ways that are dark, And for tricks that are vain, The heathen Chinee is peculiar. Which the same I would rise to explain. Ah Sin was his name; And I shall not deny. In regard to the same, What that name might imply; But his smile it was pensive and child-like. As I frequently remarked to Bill Xye. It was August the third, And quite soft was the skies — Which it might be inferred That Ah Sin was likewise; Yet he played it that day upon William And me in a way I despise. Wliich we had a small game, And Ah Sin took .a hand ; It was Euchre. The same He did not understand; But he smiled as he sat by the table, With a smile that was child-like and bland. Yet the cards they were stocked In a way that I grieve, And my feelings were shocked At the state of Nye's sleeve. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 2G7 Which was stuffed full of aces and bowers, And the same with intent to deceive. But the hands that were played By that heathen Chinee, And the points that he made, "Were quite frightful to see ; Till at last he put down a right bower, Which the same Nye had dealt unto me. Then I looked up at Nye, And he gazed upon me; And he rose with a sigh. And said, " Can this be ? We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor" — And he went for that heathen Chinee. In the scene that ensued I did not take a hand; But the floor it was strewed, Like the leaves on the strand, With the cards that Ah Sin had been hiding, In the game he "did not understand." In his sleeves, which were long. He had twenty-four packs — Which was coming it strong, Yet I state but the facts ; And we found on his nails, wdiich were taper, What is frequent in tapers — tliat's wax. Which is why I remark — And my language is plain — That for ways that are dark, And for tricks that are vain, The heathen Chinee is peculiar, Which the same I am free to maintain. Bret Harte, 268 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. MARK TWAIN AND THE REPORTER. "Hoping it's no harm, I've come to interview you. I am connected with The Daily Thunderstorm." " Come to what ? " " Intervieiv you." " Ah ! I see. Yes — yes. Um ! Yes — yes." "Are you ready to begin?" " Eeady." " How old are you ? " " Nineteen in June." " Indeed ! I would have taken you to be thirty-five or six. Where were you born ? " "In Missouri?" " When did you begin to write ? " "In 1836." "Why, how could that be, if you are only nineteen now ? " " I do n't know. It does seem curious, somehow." "It does indeed. Whom do you consider the most remarkable man you ever met ? " "Aaron Burr." " But you never could have met Aaron Burr, if you are only nineteen years — " " Now, if you know more about me than I do, what do you ask me for ? " " Well, it was only a suggestion ; nothing more. How did you happen to meet Burr ? " "Well, I happened to be at his funeral one day; and he asked me to make less noise, and — " " But, good heavens ! If you were at his funeral, lie must have been dead ; and, if he was dead, how could he care whether you made a noise or not ? " "I don't know. He was always a particular kind of a man that way." " Still, I do n't understand it at aU. You say he spoke to you, and that he was dead ? " SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 269 " I did n't say be was dead." " But was n't he dead V " " Well, some said he was, some said he was n't." " What do you think ? " " Oh, it was none of my business. It was n't any of my funeral." "Did you — However, we can never get this matter straight. Let me ask about something else. What was the date of your birth ? " "Monday, October 31, 1693." " What ! Impossible ! That would make you a hun- dred and eighty years old. How do you account for that ? " " I do n't account for it at all." " But you said at first you were only nineteen, and now you make yourself out to be one hundred and eighty. It is an awful discrepancy." " Why, have you noticed that ? {Shaking hands) Many a time it has seemed to me like a discrepancy ; but some how I could n't make up my mind. How quick you notice a thing ! " " Thank you for the compliment, as far as it goes. Had you, or have you, any brothers or sisters ? " " Eh ! I — I — I think so — yes — but I do n't remember." "Well, that is the most extraordinary statement I ever heard." " Why, what makes you tliink that ? " " How could I think otherwise ? Why, look here ! Who is this a picture of on the wall ? Is n't that a brother of yours ? " " Oh, yes, yes, yes ! Now you remind me of it, that was a brother of mine. That's William, Bill we called him. Poor old Bill!" "Why, is he dead, then?" " Ah, well, I suppose so. We never could telL There was a great mystery about it." 270 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. " That is sad, very sad. He disappeared, then ? " ""Well, yes, in a sort of general way. AVe buried him." " Buried him ! Buried him without knowing whether he was dead or not ? " " Oh, no ! Not that. He was dead enough." " Well, I confess that I can't understand this. If you buried him, and you knew he was dead — " " No, no ! We only thought he was." ■ " Oh, I see ! He came to life again ? " "I bet he didn't." "Well, I never heard anything like this. Somebody was dead. Somebody was buried. Now, where was the mystery ? " "Ah, that's just it! That's it exactly! You see we were twins — defunct and I ; and we got mixed in the bath-tub when we were only two weeks old, and one of us was drowned. But we did n't know which. Some think it was Bill; some think it was me." " Well, that is remarkable. AVhat do you think ? " " Goodness knows ! I would give whole worlds to know. This solemn, this awful mystery has cast a gloom over my whole life. But I will tell you a secret now, which I never have revealed to any creature before. One of us liad a peculiar mark, a large mole on the back of his left hand; that was rnc. That child was the one that was drovmed." " Very well, then, I do n't see that there is any mys- tery about it, after all." " You do n't ? Well, / do. Anyway, I do n't see how they could ever have been such a blundering lot as to go and bury the wrong chihl. But, 'sh ! Don't men- tion it where the family can licar of it. Heaven knows they have heart-breaking troubles enough without adding this." "Well, I believe I have got material enougli for the SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 271 present; and I am very much obliged to you for the pains you have taken. But I was a good deal inter- ested in that account of Aaron Burr's funeral. Would you mind telling me what particular circumstance it was that made you think Burr was such a remarkable man ? " " Oh, it was a mere trifle ! Not one man in fifty would have noticed it at all. When the sermon was over, and the procession all ready to start for the cemetery, and the body all arranged nice in the hearse, he said he wanted to take a last look at the scenery ; and so he got wp, and rode with the, driver." 9. PRINCE HENRY AND FALSIAFF. Falstaff. I call thee coward ? I '11 see thee hdiiged ere I call thee coward : but I would give a thousand 'pound I could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your hdck. Call you that backing your friends ? A j^^Q'ffue upon such backing ! give me them that will face me. — Give me a cup of sacic : I am a rogue, if I have drunk to-day. F. HenrTj. villain! tliy lips are scarce wiped since thou drank'st last. Fal. All's one for that. A iMgue on all cowards, still say I ! P. Henry. What's the matter? Fed. What's the matter? here be four of us have taken a tliousaud pound tliis morning. P. Henry. Where is it, Jack ? where is it ? Fal. Where Is it ? taken from us, it is ; a hundred upon poor four of us. F. Henry. AVhat ! a hvundred, nuin ? Fal. I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them, for two hours togetlier. I liave 'scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust tliroudr the 272 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. doublet ; four, through the hose ; my buckler cut through and through ; my sword hacked like a hand-saw. I never dealt better since I was a man ; all would not do. A plague of all cowards ! Let them speak ; if they speak more or less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness. P. Henry. Spfeak, sirs ; how was it ? Gadshill. We four, set upon some dozen — Fal. Sixteen, at least, my lord. Gad. And bound them. Feto. No, no, they were not bound. Fal. You rogue, they were bound, every man of them , or I am a Jew, else — an Ebrew Jew. Gad. As we Avere sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us — Fal. And unbound the rest ; and then come in the other. P. Henry. What ! fought ye with them all ? Fal. All ? I know not what ye call all ; but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish : if there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, then I am no two-legged creature. Foins. Pray heaven, you have not murdered some of them. Fal. Nay, that's past praying for; for I have pep- pered two of them ; two I am sure 1 have paid ; two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee Avhat, Ilal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, and call me a horse. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me — F. Henry. What! foitr? Thou saidst but two even now. Fal. Four, Hal ; I told thee four. Foins. Ay, ay, he said four. Fal. These four came- all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made no more ado, but took all their seven points on my target thus. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 273 P. Henry. Seven ! why, there were but four, even now. Fid. In buckram ? P. Henry. Ay, four in buckram suits. Fed. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else. Dost thou hear me, Hal ? P. Henry. Ay, and mark thee too, Jack. Fal. Do so, for it is worth listening to. These nine in buckram that I told thee of — P. Henry. So, two more already. Fal. Their points being broken, — began to give me ground ; but I followed me close, came in foot and hand, and with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid. P. Henry. monstrous ! eleven buckram men grown out of two I Fal. But, as ill luck would have it, three misbegot- ten knaves, in Kendal green, came at my back, and let drive at me; — for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand. P. Henry. These lies are like the father tliat begets them ; gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou knotty-pated fool; thou greasy tallow-tub. Fal. What, art thou mad .^ art thou mad ? is not the truth the truth? P. Henry. Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand ? Come, tell us your reason ; what sayest thou to this ? Come, your reason, Jack, your reason. Fed. What, upon coinjmlsion ? No. Were I at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on comi^ulsion. Give you a reason upon com- pulsion ! If reasons were as plenty as hldckherries, I would give no man a reason upon coiu'pulsion. P. Henry. I '11 be no longer, guilty of this sin. This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back breaker, this huge hill of flesh — 18 274 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Fed. Away, you starveling, you eel-skin, you dried 7ieaz!'s-tougue, you s/ocA^-fish ! for breath to utter what is like thee ! you tailor's yard, you sheath, you hoiv-csise, you vile standing tuck — Shakespeare. Hints about Additional Selections. Dialogues, dialect pieces, and humorous selections are useful in school for the purpose of breaking up the tendency to stiffness, formality, and monotony in read- ing. There are times when the ripple of laughter is music in the school-room, and when the sunlight of humor is needed to dispel the mists of a gloomy day. There seems to be no good reason why the flashes of wit and humor that delight a whole nation should be altogether shut out from the school-room, because they do not form a part of " classic literature." Though such humorous and dialect selections might not seem appro- priate for a drill-book like this volume, the wise and cheerful teacher will make good use of them, taking care, of coui'se, to exclude objectionable selections. Teachers will do well to bear in mind that the taste of boys and girls from fourteen to eighteen years of ac^e is not so critical as that of men and women of middle age. These extracts should be read at sigJit, the book being passed from liand to hand, and one book serving for the whole class. Many excellent selections can be found in such books as Lowell's " Biglow Papers," Dickens's " Pickwick Pa- pers," Bret Harte's " Poems," Saxe's " Poems," Hood's " Poems," Mark Twain's books, Monroe's " Humorous Eeadings," Garrett's "Speaker's Garland," Shoemaker's "Elocutionist's Annual," and many other books of " Selections." PART III. PART III. MISCELLANEOUS SELECTIONS. SECTION I. PROSE SELECTIONS. 1. ELOCUTIOXARY TEAININa 1. Elocutionary traiuing should be begun in early life, because then the vocal organs are flexible. It is a serious defect in our school methods of instruction, that the expressive faculties, comprising feeling, affection, emotion, passion, imagination, fancy, association, imita- tion, and description, are called so little into action. Elocution, when properly taught, calls into active exer- cise the expressive faculties, and tends to educate the child as a social being. 2. In most ungraded schools in the country, and in many city schools, an hour of the closing afternoon of each week may be usefully devoted to declamation, dia- logue, and select readings. It is not advisable to compel every child in school to take part in these exercises, for there are some who never can become good readers, and others who are so awkward and diffident that it is cruel to force them upon the school stage with a declamation. 3. Appropriate selections should at first be made by (277) 278 SCHOOL ELOCUTION, the teacher; for the iiu cultivated taste of pupils will lead them to choose pieces altogether too difficult, or utterly worthless when committed to memory. Select at times, for the hoys, short prose declamations, which, when learned, remain in the memory as models of pure prose and patriotic feeling. If tliey learn a poem, let , it not be one made up of doggerel rhymes, or of pain- ful attempts at a low order of wit. 4. A careful selection of pieces will be the surest safeguard against the ranting, tearing, overstrained, the- atrical style of florid oratory which so painfully mars many school exhibitions. The teacher can take odd moments at the intermission, or recess, or before and after school, for the purpose of hearing rehearsals, aud giving special instructions. 5. Teachers should instruct pupils in the elements of gesture. Gestures spring naturally from the close sym- pathy of mind and body. A look of the 63^6, au expression of the countenance, a movement of the hand, often convey more than words can express. The prin- ciples of gesture may be easily learned from any one of several excellent works on elocution. 6. The reading and recitation of poetry by girls is an indispensable part of the education of woman, as one of the most efficient modes of discipline for the taste and imagination. Many of the most exquisite passages of the poets can never be fully appreciated until repeated by tlie voice of woman. 7. It requires no close observer to perceive the effects of poetry on the youthful mind. Childhood delights in the melody of verse, and is pleased with its flowing harmony of sound. In poetry are embodied some of the most beautiful lessons of morality ; and they are presented in a manner which arrests the attention and impresses the character. What teacher has not seen the dull eye kindle, the vacant countenance take expression. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 279 the face glow witli emotion, and the whole boy become lost in the sentiment of his declamation ? 8. Introduce elocution into school to cultivate a taste for reading, to exercise and strengthen memory, to awaken feeling, to excite imagination, and to train those wlio are to enter the j)i'ofessions, to become graceful and pleasing speakers. Introduce it as a relief from study, a pleasing recreation, and a source of intellectual enjoyment. Introduce it as a part of the sesthetic edu- cation so peculiarly appropriate for woman. Make it as a part of the education of man as an expressive being. 2. GOOD EEADING. 1. There is Sne accomplishment, in particular, which I would earnestly reconimhid to you. Cultivate assidu- ously the ability to read well. I stop to particularize this, because it is a thing so very much neglected, and because it is such an elegant and charming accbinplish- ment. Where one person is really interested by music, Uventy are pleased by good reading. Where 6ne person is capable of becoming a skillful musician, twhity may become good readers. Where there is 6ne occasion suit- able for the exercise of musical talent, there are twhity for that of good reading. 2. The culture of the voice necessary for reading well, gives a delightful charm to the same voice in conversa- tion. Good reading is the natural exponent and vehicle of all good things. It seems to bring dead a.iA,thors to life again, and makes us sit down familiarly with the great and good of all ages. 3. What a fascindtion there is in really good reading ! What a ^w^wr it gives one ! In the hbsjnfal, in the chamber of the Invalid, in the nursery, in the domestic and in the shcial circle, among chosen friends and com- panions, how it enables you to minister to the amuse- 280 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. ment, the chmfort, tlie pleasure of dear ones as no other art or accomplishment can. No instrument of man's devising can reach the heart as does that most wonder- ful instrument, the h'dman voice. 4. If you would double the value of all your other acquisitions, if you would add immeasurably to your 6wn enjoyment and to your power of i)romoting the enjoyment of others, cultivate, with incessant care, this divine gift. No music below the skus is equal to that of pure, silvery speech from the lips of a man or woman of high culture. john s. hart. 3. THE MUSIC OF THE HUMAN VOICE. 1. Willis, in his essay on " unwritten music," has placed the appropriate sound of the female voice among the most beautiful of its forms ; and there is, unquestiona- bly, a fine analogy between the sound of the running brook, the note of the wood-bird, tlie voice of a happy child, the low breathing of a flute, and the clear, soft tone of a woman's voice, when it ntters the natural music of home — the accents of gentleness and love. 2. To a well-tuned ear, there is a rich, deep melody in the distinctive bass of the male voice, in its subdued tones. But the key-note of poetry seems to have been lent to woman. On the ear of infancy and cliildhood, lier voice was meant to fall as a winning prelude to all ,the other melodies of nature ; the human nerves are y attuned, accordingly, to the breath of her voice ; and, through life, the chords of the heart respond most readily to her touch. 3. Yet how often is this result impeded by the pro- cesses of artificial culture ; by tlie over-excitement of mind and nerve, attending excessive application ; by that nnwise neglect of health and healthful action, which dims the eye and deadens the ear to beauty, and robs SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 281 life of the joyous and sympathetic spirit which is native to cliildhood ; and which, otherwise, would ever be gush- ing forth in notes of gladness and endearment, the physical not less than the moral charm of human utterance .' 4. There are beautiful exceptions, undoubtedly, to this general fact of ungainly habit. But the ground of just complaint is, that there is no provision made in our systems of education for the cultivation of one of woman's peculiar endowments — an attractive voice. Our girls do not come home to us, after their period of school life, qualified to read with effect in their own language. There is wanting in their voices tliat adap- tation of tone to feeling, which is the music of the heart in reading; there is wanting that clear, impressive style which belongs to the utterance of cultivated taste and judgment, and which enhances every sentiment by appropriate emphasis and pause ; there is even a want of that distinct articulation which alone can make sound the intelligible medium of thought, prof. William rcssell. 4 THE AET OF EEADING. 1. The art of reading well is an accomplishment that all desire to possess, many tliink they have already, and that a few set about to acquire. These, believing their jjower is altogether in their genius, are, after a few lessons from an elocutionist, disappointed at not becoming themselves at once masters of the art; and witli the restless vanity of their belief, abandon the study for some new subject of trial and failure. Such cases of iufii'mity result in part from the AAavering character of the human tribe ; but tliey chiefly arise from defects in the usual course of instruction. 2. Go to some of our colleges and universities, and observe how the art of speaking is not taught there. 282 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. See a boy of but fifteen years, with no want of youth- ful diffidence, and not without a craving desire to learn, sent upon a stage, pale and choking with appre- hension ; being forced into an attempt to do that, without instruction, which he came purposely to learn ; and furnishing amusement to his classmates, by a pardonable awkwardness, that should be punished, in the person of his pretending but neglectful preceptor, with little less than scouroiuo-. 3. Then visit a conservatorio of music ; observe there the elementary outset, the orderly task, the masterly discipline, the unwearied superintendence, and the in- cessant toil to reach the utmost accomplishment in the Singing-Voice ; and afterwards do not be surprised that the pulpit, the senate, the bar, and the chair of medical professorship, are filled with such abominable drawlers, mouthers, mumblers, clutterers, squeakers, chanters, and mongers in monotony; nor that the Schools of Singing are constantly sending abroad those great instances of vocal wonder who triumph along the crowded resorts of the world ; who contribute to the halls of fashion and wealth their most refined source of gratification ; who sometimes quell the pride of rank by a momentary sensation of envy ; and who draw forth the admiration and receive the crowning applause of the prince and sage. 4. The high accomplishments in elocution are sup- posed to be universally the unacquired gifts of genius, and to consist of powers and graces beyond the reach of art. So seem the plainest services of arithmetic to a savage ; and so, to the slave, seem all the ways of music wliich modern art has so accurately penned, as to time, and tune, and momentary grace. Ignorance knows not what han been done ; indolence thinks notliing can be done; and both uniting, borrow from the abused eloquence of poetry an aphorism to justify supineness of inquiry. dk. rush. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 283 5. ON LEARNING BY HEAET. 1. Till he has fairly tried it, I suspect a reader does not know how much he would gain from committing to memory passages of real excellence ; pi^ecisely because he does not know how much he overlooks when merely reading. Learn one true poem by heart, and see if you do not find it so. Beauty after beauty will reveal itself, in chosen plirase, or happy music, or noble sug- gestion, otherwise undreamed of. It is like looking at one of Nature's wonders through a microscope. 2. Again : how much in such a poem that you really did feel admirable and lovely on a first reading, passes away, if you do not give it a further aud much better reading ! — passes away utterly, like a sweet sound, or an image on the lake, which the first breath of wind dispels. If you could only fix that image, as the pho- tographers do theirs, so beautifully, so perfectly ! And you can do so ! Learn it by heart, aud it is yours for ever ! 3. I have said, a true poem ; for naturally men will choose to learn poetry — from the beginning of time they have done so. To immortal verse the memory gives a willing, a joyous, and a lasting home. Some prose, however, is poetical, is jwetry, and altogether worthy to be learned by heart ; and the learning is not so very difficult. It is not difficult or toilsome to learn that which pleases us; and the labor, once given, is forgot- ten, while the result remains. 4. Poems, and noble extracts, whether of verse or of prose, once so reduced into possession and rendered truly our own, may be to iis a daily pleasure; — better far than a whole library ■?«iused. They may come to us in our dull moments, to refresh us as with spring flowers ; in our selfish musings, to win us by pure delight from the tyranny of foolish castle-building, self-gratulations, 284 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. and mean anxieties. They may be with us in the work- shop, in the crowded street, by the fireside; sometimes, perhaps, on pleasant hill-sides, or by sounding shores ; — noble friends and companions — our own I never intru- sive, ever at hand, coming at our call. 5. For those, in particular, whose leisure time is short, I believe there could not be a better expenditure of time than deliberately giving an occasional hour — it requires no more — to committing to memory chosen passages from great authors. If the mind were thus daily nourished with a few choice words of the best English poets and writers ; if the habit of learning by heart were to become so general, that, as a matter of course, any person presuming to be educated might be expected to be equipped with a few good pieces, — I be- lieve that it would lead, much more than the mere sound of it suggests, to the diffusion of the best kind of literature and to tlie right appreciation of it ; and that men would not long rest satisfied with knowing a few stock pieces. 6. The only objection I can conceive to what I have been saying is, that a relish for higlier literature may be said to be the result of cultivation, and to belong only to the few. But I do not admit that even the higher literature must belong only to the few. Poetry is, in the main, essentially catholic — addressed to all men ; and though some poetry requires knowledge and culture, much, and that the noblest, needs only natural feeling, and common experience. Such poetry, taken in moderation, followed with genuine good-will, shared in common, will be intelligible and delightful to most men who take the trouble to be students at all, and ever more and more so. 7. Terhaps, also, tliere may be a fragment of trulli in what Charles Lamb has said — tliat any spouting "witliers and blows upon a fine passage ; " that there is no enjo}'- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 285 ing it after it has been " pawed about by declamatory boys and men." But surely tliere is a reasonable habit of recitation as well as an unreasonable one ; there is no need of declamatory pavvinif. To abandon all recita- tion, is to give up a custom which has unquestionably given delight and instruction to all the races of man- kind. If our faces are set against vain display, and set towards rational enjoyment of one another, we need not fear that our social evenings will be marred by an oc- casional recitation. And, moreover, it is not for recit- ing's sake that I chieHy recommend this most faithful form of reading — learning by heart. 8. I come back, therefore, to this, that learning by heart is a good thing, and that it is neglected among us. Why is it neglected ? Partly because of our indolence ; but partly, I believe, because we do not sufficiently con- sider that it is a good thing, and needs to be taken in hand. We need to be reminded of it. I here remind you. Like a town-crier, ringing my bell, I would say to you, " Oyez, oyez ! Lost, stolen, or strayed, a good ancient practice — the good ancient practice of learning by heart. Every finder shall be handsomely rewarded." 9. If you ask, " What shall I learn ? " the answer is, do as you do with tunes — begin with what you sincerely like best, what you would most wish to remember, what you would most enjoy saying to yourself or repeating to another. You will soon find the list inexhaustible. Then " keeping up " is easy. Every one has spare ten minutes : one of the problems of life is how to employ thera usefully. You may well spend some in looking after and securing this good property you have won. LUSHISUTOX. 286 SCHOOL ELOCUTIOX. 6. SCHOOL LIBEAEIES. 1. The influence of well-selected books in a school is second only to that of the teacher; and in many in- stances the information, self-gleaned by the pupils, is the most valuable part of a common-school education. 2. A teacher may fail in the discharge of duty; but the golden grains of thought gleaned from good books will spring up in the youthful minds and yield their fruit, just as certainly as the fertile soil of our beauti- ful valleys rewards the toil of the husbandman with a bountiful harvest. 3. The object and aim of the public school should be to give children a thirst for information, a taste for reading; to make them alive to knowledge; to set them out on the path of self-education through life. Why teach them to read at all, if books be not afterwards furnished for them to read ? 4 Not many years ago, in one of the obscure towns of Massachusetts, there lived a farmer's boy who " went to a common school " in the winter, and worked on the farm in summer. The books of a little town library fell into his hands ; he devoured them, and hungered for more. He grew to be a man, and was acknowledged by all to be the most distinguished American educator of his time. 5. Every public school in our country is a debtor to Horace Mann. He tlnis graphically sums up the advan- tage of a school library : " Now no one thing will contribute more to intelligent reading in our schools than a well-selected library ; and, through intelligence, the library will also contribute to rhetorical ease, grace, and expressiveness. Wake uj) a child to a consciousness of power and beauty, and you might as easily confine Hercules to a distaff, or bind Apollo to a tread-mill, as to confine his spirit within the mechanical round of a SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 287 school-room where such mechanism still exists. Let a child read and understand such stories as the friendship of Damon and Pythias, the integrity of Aristides, the fidelity of Eegulus, the purity of Washington, the invinci- ble perseverance of Franklin, and he will think differently and act differently all the days of his remaining life. 6. " Let hoys or girls of sixteen years of age read an intelligible and popular treatise on astronomy and geol- ogy, and from that day new heavens will bend over their heads, and a new earth will spread out beneath their feet. A mind accustomed to go rejoicing over the splendid regions of the material universe, or to luxuriate in the richer worlds of thought, can never afterwards read like a wooden machine — a thing of cranks and pipes — to say nothing of the pleasures and the utility it will realize." 7. POEMS. 1. Now I tell you a poem must be kept and used, like a meerschaum or a violin. A poem is just as porous as the meerschaum — the more porous it is, the better. I mean to say that a genuine poem is capable of absorbing an indefinite amount of the essence of our own humanity — its tenderness, its heroism, its regrets, its aspirations — so as to be gradually stained through with a divine secondary color derived from ourselves. So, you see, it must take time to bring the sentiment of a poem into harmony with our nature by staining ourselves through every thought and image our being can penetrate. 2. Then, again, as to the mere music of a new poem ; why, who can expect anything more from that than from the music of a violin fresh from the maker's hands ? Now you know very well that there are no less than fifty-eight different pieces in a violin. These 288 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. pieces are strangers to each other, and it takes a cen- tury, more or less, to make them thoroughly ae(|uainted. At last they learn to vibrate in harmony, and the in- strument becomes an organic whole, as it were a great seed capsule, which had grown from a garden-bed in Cremona, or elsewhere. Besides, the wood is juicy and full of sap for fifty years or so, but at the end of hfty ' or a hundred more gets tolerably dry and comparatively resonant. 3. Don't you see that all this is just as true of a poem ? Counting each word as a piece, there are more pieces in an average copy of verses than in a violin. The poet has forced all these words together, and fast- ened them, and they do n't understand it at first. But let the poem be repeated aloud, anil murmured over in the mind's mufiled whisper often enough, and at length the parts become knit together in such absolute soli- darity that you couhl not change a syllable without the M-hole world's crying out against you for meddling with the harmonious I'abric. holmes. 8. SCPtOOGE AXD IMARLEY. 1. Marley was dead, to begin witli. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Cliange, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Mai'ley was as dead as a door- nail. 2. INIind ! I do n't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have lieen inclined myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in tlie ti'ade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 289 the simile; and my uuliallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the country 's done for. You will therefore per- mit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. 3. Scrooge knew he was dead ? Of course he did. How could it be other\yise ? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dread- fully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an ex- cellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnized it with an undoubted bargain. 4. Scrooge never painted out old Marley's name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door : Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge, Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names. It was all the same to him. 5. Oh ! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge ! A squeezing, wrenching, gi'asping, scrap- ing, clutching, covetous old sinner ! Hard and sharp as flint from which no steel had ever struck out gen- erous fire ; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled liis cheek, stiffened his gait ; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue ; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him ; he iced his office in the dog-days ; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. 6. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no 290 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather did n't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often " came down handsomely," and Scrooge never did. 7. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, " My dear Scrooge, how are you ? When will you come to see me ? " No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him ; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts ; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master ! " 8. But what did Scrooge care ! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones called " nuts " to Scrooge. 9. Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year, on Christmas eve — old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather : foggy withal ; and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already — it had not been light all day — and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring oliices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and key-hole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the nar- rowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 291 see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. 10. The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he could not replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room ; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore, the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle ; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. 11. "A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation Scrooge had of his approach. " Bah ! " said Scrooge ; " humbug ! " " Christmas a humbug, uncle ! You do n't mean that, I am sure ? " 12. " I do. Out upon merry Christmas ! What 's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money ; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer ; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you ? If I had ray will, every idiot who goes about with ' Merry Christmas ' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should ! " " Uncle ! " 13. " Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine." " Keep it ! But you do n't keep it." 292 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. " Let rae leave it alone, then. Much good may it do you ! ]\Iuch good it has ever done you ! " 14 " There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time ; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fel- low-travelers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good ; and I say, God bless it ! " The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded. 15. " Let rae hear another sound from you" said Scrooge, "and you 11 keep your Christmas by losing your situation ! You 're quite a powerful speaker, sir," he added, turning to his nephew. " I wonder you do n't go into Parliament." " Do n't be angry, uncle. Come ! Dine with us to- morrow." 16. Scrooge said that he would see him — yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. "But why?" cried Scrooge's nephew. " AVhy ? " " Why did you get married ? " " Because I fell in love." 17. "Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that were tlie only one thing in the world more rid- iculous than a merry Christmas. "Good-afternoon!" " Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 293 that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now ? " " Good-afternoon ! " " I want nothing from you ; I ask nothing of you ; why caimot we be friends ? " " Good-afternoon ! " 18. "I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I '11 keep my Christmas humor to the last. So a merry Christmas, uncle ! " " Good-afternoon ! " " And a happy New Year ! " " Good-afternoon ! " Dickens's " Chnsfmas Carol." 9. DEFENSE OF POETEY. 1. We believe that poetry, far from 'injuring society, is one of the great instruments of its refinement and exaltation. It lifts the mind ahove ordinary life, gives it a respite from depressing cares, and awakens the con- sciousness of its affinity with what is pure and nbhle. In its legitimate and highest efforts, it has the same tendency and aim with Christianity; that is, to spir- itualize our nature. 2. True, poetry has been made the iustrument of vice, the pander of bad passions ; Init when genius thus stoops, it dims its fires, and parts with much of its pbwer ; and even when Poetry is enslaved to licentious- ness and mislmthropy, she can not wholly forget her tr'^e voclition. Strains of p-{ire feeling, touches of tender- ness, images of irniocent hdppAness, sympathies with what is gdod in our nature, bursts of scorn or indignation at the hollowness of the world, passages true to our moral nature, often escape in an imvioral lobrk, and 294 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. show US how hard it is for a gifted spiiit to divorce itself wholly from what is good. 3. Poetry has a natural alliance with our best affec- tions. It delights in the beauty and sublimity of butward nature aud of the soul. It indeed portrays with terrible energy the excesses of the j^f^ssions, but they are passions which show a mighty nature, whicli are full of j^bwer, which command da-c, and excite a deep though shudder- ing spnjKifhi/. 4. Its great tendencij and pfirpose is to carry the mind heyond and ahbve the beaten, dusty, wdary walks of brdi- nary life ; to lift it into a p)UTcr Element, and to breathe into it more profound and generous embtion. It reveals to us the Idveliness of nature, brings back the freshness of youthful feeling, revives the relish of simple plktsures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the spring-time of our being, refines youthful Ibve, strength- ens our interest in human nature by vivid delineations of its tenderest and loftiest feelings, spreads our symyia- thies over all classes of society, knits us by new ties with universal being, and, through the brightness of its pro- phetic visions, helps fctith to lay hold on the future Pifc. 5. We are aware that it is objected to poetry that it gives lurdng vieics and excites false expectations of life, peoples the mind with shadows and illusions, and builds up irnagindtion on the ruins of v-isdom. Tliat there is a wisdom against whicli poetry wars — the wisdom of tlie senses, which makes phydccd comfort and gratification the supreme good, and %vealth the chief {ntcrest of life — we do not deny; nor do we deem it the least service which poetry renders to mankind, that it redeems them from the thralldom of this earth-born prudence. 6. But, passing over this topic, we would observe that the complaint against p6etry, as abounding in ilhision and decep)tion, is, in the main, grbundless. In many poems there is more of trilth than in many histories and SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 295 philosopliic tJihries. The fictions of genius are often the vehicles of the sublimcst verities, and its Jidshcs often open new regions of thought, and throw neiv light on the mysteries of our being. In poetrg, when the letter is falsehood, the sp^r^^ is often jprofoundcst vnsclom. 7. And if truth thus dwells in the boldest fictions of the poet, much more may it be expected in his delinea- tions of life ; for the 'present life, which is the first stage of the immortal mind, dbdunds in the materials of poetry, and it is the high office of the bard to detect this divine element among the grosser labors and pleasures of our earthly being. The present life is not wliolly prosaic, precise, tame, and finite. To the gifted eye it abounds in the poetic. 8. The afflctions, which spread beyond ourselves and stretch far into futurity ; the workings of mighty p)dssions, which seem to arm the soul with an almost superhuman energy ; the innocent and irrepressible joy of infancy; the bloom, and buoyancy, and dazzling hopes of youth; the throbbings of the heart, when it first wakes to love, and dreams of a happiness too vast for earth; woman, with her beauty, and grace, and gentleness, and fullness of fueling, and depth of affdction, and blushes of purity, and the tones and looks which only a mother's heart can inspire — tliJise are dll poetical. 9. It is not true that the poet paints a life which does not exist. He only extracts and concentrates, as it wdre, life's ethereal essence, arrdsts and condenses its volatile fragrance, brings together its scattered beauties, and prolongs its more refined but evanescent joys. And in this he does well; for it is good to feel that life is not wholly usurped by cares for sidjsistence and physical gratifications, but admits, in measures which may be indefinitely enlarged, sentiments and delights worthy of a higher being. channucq. 296 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 10. FALSTAFF. [TJiis extract affords an example of "humorous style," with prevail- ing circumflex inflections. '\ 1. There is soinetliing cordial in a fat man. Every- body likes him, and he likes everybody. Food does a fat man good; it clings to him; it fructifies upon him; he swells nobly mit, and fills a generous space in life. A fat man, therefore, almost in virtue of being a fat man, is, 'per sS, a popular man ; and he commonly deserves his popularity. 2. A fat man feels his position solid in the world ; he knows that his being is cbgnizahle ; lie knows that he has a mdrJced p>ldce in the universe, and that he need take no extraordinary pains to advertise mankind that he is among them; lie knows that he is in no danger of being overlooked. 3. A fat man is the nearest to that most perfect of figures, a mathcmdtical sphere ; a tlan man, to that most limited of conceivable dimensions, a simple line. A fat man is a being of harnuhiious volume, and holds relations to the material universe in every direction ; a thhi man has nothing but length ; a thin man, in fact, is but the continuation of a 2'>oint. 4. Well then might Falstaff e.xult in his size; Avell might he mock at the p)rince, and his other lean contem- poraries ; and, accordingly, when he would address the prince in terms the most degrdding, he heaps epithet upon epithet, each expressive of the utmost leanness. " Au'dy, you starveling" he exclaims ; " you eel-shin ; you dried ?iea^'s- tongue; you stdek-^^h.. O for breath to utter what is like thee ! " 5. Falstaff was an epicure, but no gliXtton. He was not a great eater, for his bill contained a halfpenny- worth of brlad to an intolerable quantit}'' of sdck. And although FalstalT was a large driah:r, he was no inebriate. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 297 And here we conceive a consummate art in Shakespeare, who sustains Falstaff throughout in our intellectital respect. . . . 6. As to lies, they were in the way of his vocation. The highest stretch of imagination could not even sUs- pcct him of veracity ; and if he had any cMpes, they were strongly in love with deception. His lies, too, were the lies of a professed and known wit ; they 'were designed only for ludicrous effect, and generally were little more than comic exaggerdtions. In the events at Gad's hill, and those that immediately follow them, there is an epitome of the whole chdracter of Falstaff; but there is, at the same time, an evident design on the part of the poet, to bring out his peculiarities with grotesque extrav- agance, and to produce the broadest and the most comic result. 7. Falstaff has both ivit and humor ; but more of vM, I think, than humor. Between wit and humor there is an evident distinction, but to submit the distinction to minute criticism would require more time than we can spare ; and, after all, it is more easy to Jecl than to explain it. WU im\)\iefi thdiight ; humor, sensibilitg. Wit deals with ideas; humor, with actions and with mdn- ners. Wit may be a thing of pure imagindtion ; humor involves sentiment and chdracter. Wit is an essence; humor, an incarnation. 8. Wit and humor, however, have some qualities in common. Both develop unexpected analogies; both in- clude the principles of cdntrast and assimildtion ; both detect inward resemhla'rices anddst external differences, and the result of both is pleasurable surprise ; the sur- ]jrise from wit excites admiration, the surprise from humor stimulates merriment, and produces laughter. 9. Falstaff's wit is rich as his imagination ; as prolific as it is felicitous. It is pungent, copious, brilliant in expression, and decisive in effect. It never falls short of 298 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. its aim, and never misses it. And this rare wit is wliollj devoted to the ludicrous. Henky Giles. 11. WEALTH. 1. As soon, as a stranger is introduced into any com- pany, one of the first questions which all wish to have answered, is, How does that man get his living ? And with reason. He is no whole man until he knows how to earn a blameless livelihood. Society is barbarous, until every industrious man can get his living without dishonest customs. 2. Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a pro- ducer. He fails to make his place good in the world, unless he not only pays his debt, but also adds some- thing to the common wealth. Kor can he do justice to his genius, without making some larger demand on the world than a bare subsistence. He is by constitu- tion expensive, and needs to be rich. 3. Wealth has its source in applications of the mind to nature, from the rudest strokes of spade and ax, up to the last secrets of art. Intimate ties subsist be- tween thought and all production ; because a better or- der is equivalent to vast amounts of ])rute labor. The forces and the resistances are Nature's, but the mind acts in bringing things from \^'here they abound to where they are wanted ; in wise combining ; in directing the practice of the useful arts, and in the creation of finer values, by fine art, by eloquence, by song, or the repro- ductions of memory. 4. Wealth is in applications of mind to nature; and the art of getting rich consists not in industry, much less in saving, but in a better order, in timeliness, in being at the right spot. One man has stronger arms, or longer legs ; another sees by the course of streams, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 299 and growth of markets, where land will be wanted, makes a clearing to the river, goes to sleep, and wakes up rich. Steam is no stronger now, than it was a hun- dred years ago; but is put to better use. A clever fellow was acquainted with the expansive force of steam ; he also saw the wealth of wheat and grass rotting in Michigan. Then he cunningly screws on the steam-pipe to the wlieat crop. Puff now, Steam ! The steam puffs and expands as before, but this time it is dragging all Michigan at its back to hungry New York and hungry England. 5. Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may well call it black diamonds. Every basket is power and civilization. For coal is a portable climate. It carries the heat of the tropics to Labrador and the polar circle : and it is the means of transporting itself whithersoever it is wanted. Watt and Stephenson whispered in the ear of mankind their secret, that a half ounce of coal will draw two tons a mile, and coal carries coal, by rail and by boat, to make Canada as warm as Calcutta, and with its comfort brings its industrial power. 6. When the farmer's peaches are taken from under the tree, and carried into town, they have a new look, and a hundredfold value over the fruit which grew on the same bough, and lies fulsomely on the ground. Tlie craft of the merchant is this brin^insr a thins from where it abounds, to where it is costly. 7. Wealth begins in a tight roof that keeps the rain and wind out ; in a good pump that yields you ])lenty of sweet water; in two suits of clothes, so to cliange your dress when you are wet; in dry sticks to burn; in a good double-wick lamp ; and tliree meals ; in a horse, or a locomotive, to cross the land ; in a boat to cross the sea; in tools to work with; in books to read; 300 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. and so, in giving, on all sides, by tools and auxiliaries, the greatest possible extension to our powers, as if it added feet, and hands, and eyes, and blood, length to the day, and knowledge, and good-will. 8. Wealth begins with these articles of necessity. And here we must recite the iron law which Nature thunders in these northern climates. First, she requires that each man should feed himself. If, happily, his fathers have left him no inheritance, he must go to work, and by making his wants less, or his gains more, he must draw himself out of that state of pain and insult in which she forces the beggar to lie. She gives him no rest until this is done. She starves, taunts, and torments him, takes away warmth, laughter, sleep, friends, and daylight, until he has fought his way to his own loaf. Tlien, less peremptorily, but still with sting enough, slie urges him to the acquisition of such things as be- long to him. Every warehouse and shop-window, every fruit-tree, every thought of every hour, opens a new want to him, which it concerns his power and dignity to gratliy. Emerson's Essays. 12. THE ASTEONOMER'S VISION. [This extraci, translated and paraphrased by Professor Mitchell, is characterized hy solemnity and sxihliviity, nice and wonder. It should be read with subdued force, median stress, orotund quality, low pitch.] 1. God called up from dreams a man into the vesti- ' hide of heaven, saying, " Gome thou hither and see the glory of my house." And to the servants that stood around his throne he said, "Take him, and undress him from his robes of flesh : cleanse his vision, and put a new breath into his nostrils : only touch not with any change his human heart — the heart that ^ve(f)s and irhnhles." 2. It was dbne : and, with a miglity dngel for his SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 301 guide, the man stood ready for his infinite vhyagc ; and from the terraces of heaven, without sound or farewell, at once they wheeled away into Endless space. Some- times with the solemn flight of angel wing they fled through infinite realms of ddrJcness, through wildernesses of death, that divided the ivdrlds of life; sometimes they swept over frontiers that were quickening under prophetic motions from God. 3. Then from a distance that is counted only in heaven, light dawned for a time through a sleepy film ; by unutterable 2^'^c(^> the light swept to tMm, they, by unutterable pace, to the light. In a moment, tlie rushing of planets was upon them : in a moment, the blazing of siins was around them. 4. Then came eternities of tvMight, that revealed, but were not revealed. On the right hand and on tlie left toward mighty constellations, that by self-repetitions and answers from afar, that by counter-positions, built up triumjjhal gates, whose architraves, whose archways — horizontal, upright — rested, rose at altitude, by spans that seemed ghostly from infinitude. Without measure were the drchitraves, past numher were the drchivays, heyond memory the gates. 5. Within y^ere stairs that scaled the eternities below; above was belbiv — below was above, to the man stripped of gravitating body: depth was swallowed up in height insurmountable, height was swallowed up in depth un- fdthomable. Suddenly, as thus they rode from infinite to infinite, siiddenly, as thus they tilted over abysmal worlds, a mighty cry arose — that systems more mysteri- ous, that worlds more billowy, — other heights and other depths, — were cdming, were nearing, were at hand. 6. Then the man sighed, and stdojjed, shUddered, and wept. His overladen heart uttered itself in tears, and he said: " AngeY, I will go no farther. For the spirit of man dchcth with this infinity. Insiifierable is the 302 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. [iJory of Ghd. Let me lie down in the grave and hide me from the prosecution of the infinite; for end, I see, there is none." 7. And from all the listenii:g stars that shone around issued a choral voice : " The man speaks triilj/ : end there is none, that ever yet we heard of" " Und' is there none ? " the angel solemnly demanded. " Is there indeed no 6nd ? — and is this the sorrow that kills you ? " But no voice tbnswered, that he miglit answer himself. Then the angel threw up his glorious hands to the heaven of heavens, saying, " End' is tliere none to the universe of God. Lo ! also, there is no beginning." 13. EDUCATION". 1. Suppose it were perfectly certain tliat the life and fortune of every one of us would, one day or other, de])end upon his M'iiniing or losing a game at chess. Do n't you tliink that we should all consider it to be a pi'imary duty to learn at least the names and the moves of the pieces ; to have a notion of a gambit, and a keen eye for all the meaus of giving and getting out of check ? Do you not tlunk that we should look with a disappro- bation amounting to scorn, upon the father who allowed his son, or the state which allowed its members, to grow up without knowing a pawn from a knight? 2. Yet it is a very plain and elementary truth, that the life, the fortune, and tlie happiness of every one of us, and, more or less, of those who are connected with us, do depend upon our knowing something of the rules of a game infinitely more difticult and complicated tlian chess. It is a game which has been played fur untold ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players in a game of his or her own. The chess- board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 303 universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. 3. The player on the otlier side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who plays ill is checkmated — without haste, but without remorse. 4. Well, what I mean by Education is learning the rules of this mighty game. In other words, education is the instruction of the intellect in the laws of Nature, under which name I include not merely things and their forces, but men and their ways; and the fashioning of the affections and of the will into an earnest and loving desire to move in harmony with those laws. For me, education means neither more nor less than this. Any- thing which professes to call itself education must be tried by this standard, and if it fails to stand the test, I will not call it education, whatever may be the force of authority, or of numbers, upon the other side. 5. It is important to remember that, in strictness, there is no such thing as an uneducated man. Take an extreme case. Suppose that an adult man, in the full vigor of his faculties, could be suddenly placed in the world, as Adam is said to have been, and then left to do as he best might. How long would he be left un- educated ? Not five minutes. Nature would begin to teach him, through the eye, the ear, the touch, the properties of objects. Pain and pleasure would be at his elbow telling him to do this and avoid that ; and by slow degrees the man would receive an education, which, if narrow, would be thorough, real, and adequate to his circumstances, though there would be no extras and very few accomplishments. 304 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 6. Those who take honors iu Nature's university, who learn the laws which govern men and things and obey them, are the really great and successful men in this world. Those wiio won't learn at all are plucked ; and then you can't come up again. Nature's pluck means extermination. 7. Thus the question of compulsory education is set- tled so far as Nature is concerned. Her bill on that question was framed and passed long ago. But, like all compulsory legislation, that of Nature is harsh and wasteful in its operation. Ignorance is visited as sharply as willful disobedience — incapacity meets with the same punishment as crime. Nature's discipline is not even a word and a blow, and the blow first ; but the blow without the word. It is left to you to find out why your ears are boxed. huxley. 14 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 1. For all the higher arts of con.struction, some acquaintance with mathematics is indispensable. Tlie vilhige carpenter, who, lacking rational instruction, lays out his work by empirical rules learnt in his a])]n-en- ticeship, equally with the builder of a Britannia Bridge, makes hourly reference to the laws of quantitative rela- tions. The surveyor on whose survey the land is purchased, the architect in designing a mansion to be built on it, tlie builder in preparing his estimates, his foreman in laying out the foundations, the masons in cutting tlie stones, and the various artisans who put up the fittings, are all guided by geometiical truths. Eail- Avay-making is regulated from beginning to end by mathematics : alike in the preparation of plans and sec- tions, in staking out the line, in the mensuration of cuttings and embankments, in the designing, estimating, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 305 and building of bridges, culverts, viaducts, tunnels, sta- tions. And similarly with tlie harbors, docks, piers, and various engineering and architectural works that fringe the coasts and overspread the face of the country, as well as the mines that run underneath it. 2. Out of geometry, too, as applied to astronomy, the art of navigation has grown; and so, by this science, has been made possible that enormous foreign commerce w'hich supports a large part of our population, and su})plies us with many necessaries and most of our luxuries. 3. And nowadays even the farmer, for the correct laying out of his drains, has recourse to the level — that is, to geometrical principles. When from those divisions of mathematics which deal with space, and number, some small smattering of which is given in schools, we turn to that otlier division which deals with force — of which even a smattering is scarcely ever given — we meet with another large class of activities which this science pre- sides over. 4. On the application of rational mechanics depends the success of nearly all modern manufacture. The properties of the lever, the w^heel and axle, etc., are involved in every machine; every machine is a solidified mechanical theorem ; and to machinery in these times we owe nearly all production. 5. Trace the history of the breakfast-roll. The soil out of which it came was drained with machine-made tiles ; the surface was turned over by a machine ; the seed was put in by a machine ; the wheat was reaped, thrashed, and winnowed by machines; by machinery it was ground and bolted ; and had the flour been sent to Gosport, it might have been made into biscuits by a machine. 6. Look round the room in which you sit. If mod- ern, probably the bricks in its walls were machine-made ; 20 306 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. by machinery the flooring was saM-n and planed, the mantel-shelf sawn and polished, the paper-hangings made and printed ; the veneer on tlie table, the turned legs of the chairs, the carpet, the curtains, are all products of machinery. 7. And your clothing — plain, figured, or printed — is it not wholly woven, nay, perhaps even sewed, by ma- chinery ? And the volume you are reading — are not its leaves fabricated by one machine and covered with these words by another ? Add to which, that, for the means of distribution over both land and sea, we are similarly indebted. 8. And then let it be remembered that according as the principles of mechanics are well or ill used to these ends, comes success or failure — individual and national. The engineer who misapplies his formuhe for the strength of materials, builds a bridge that breaks down. The manufacturer whose apparatus is badly devised, can not compete with another whose apparatus wastes less in friction and inertia. 9. The ship-builder adhering to the old model is out- sailed by one who builds on the mechanically justified w^ave-line principle. And as the ability of a nation to hold its own against other nations depends on the skilled activity of its units, we see that on sucli knowledge may turn the national fate. Judge, then, the worth of mathematics. 10. Pass next to physics. Joined with mathematics, it has given us the steam-engine, which does the work of millions of laborers. That section of physics which deals witli the laws of heat, has taught us how to econ- omize fuel in our various industries ; how to increase the produce of our smelting furnaces by substituting the hot for the cold blast ; how to ventilate our mines ; how to prevent explosions by using the safety-lamp ; and, tlirough tlie thermometer, liow to regulate innumer- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 307 able processes. That division which has the phenomena of light for its subject, gives eyes to the old and the myopic ; aids through the microscope in detecting dis- eases and adulterations ; and by improved lighthouses prevents shipwrecks. 11. Eesearches in electricity and magnetism have saved incalculable life and property by the compass ; have subserved sundry arts by the electrotype ; and now, in the telegraph, have supplied us with the agency by which, for the future, all mercantile transactions will be regulated, political intercourse carried on, and perhaps national quarrels often avoided. While in the details of indoor life, from the improved kitchen range up to the stereoscope on the drawing-room table, the applica- tions of advanced physics underlie our comforts and gratifications. Herbert Spencer. SECTION II. PROSE DECLAMATIONS. 1. CHARACTER OF TRUE ELOQUENCE. [This speech is characterized by full declamatory force, long pauses, strong erajyhasis, prevailing dovmward inflection, orotund quality, and radical stress. Require pupils to give reasons for the marking of rhe- torical pauses and inflections.] 1. Wlien public hddics \ are to be addressed | on mo- mentous occasions, when great interests \ are at stake, and strong pdssioiis \ excited, nothing \ is valuable | in speech, further than it is connected | with high intel- lectual 1 and mbral endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness \ are the qualities \ which produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cdnnot be brought from far. Labor and learning may 308 SCHOOL elocution. toil for it, but they will toil in vdiii. Wdrds and phrases | may be marshaled in everi/ way, but they can not cowi- pass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. 2. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all \ may aspire after it ; they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at cell, like the outbreaking of a fduntain from the earth, or the bursting forth of vol- canic fires, wath spontaneous, original, ndtive force. 3. The grdces \ taught in the schools, the costly 6rna- ments \ and studied contrivances of speech, shdck and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their coiintry, hang on the decision of the hour. Then, words have lost their power, rhetoric is vam, and all elaborate dratory \ contenvptible. Even genius itself \ then feels rehvbked and subdiicd, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then, patriotism \ is eloquent; tli^n, self-devhtion \ is eloquent, 4. The c/crt?' conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high |>iV?7^ase, the /ir??i resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on tlie tongue, beaming from the f^(?, informing eve?',?/ feature, and urging the if/w/c 7?i(i7t | bmvard, right onward, to his object — this, this \ is eloquence ; or, rather, it is something grSater and higher than a^^ eloquence — it is action, noble, sidjlimc, godlike action. 2. NATIONAL GEEATNESS. 1. I believe there is no permanent greatness to a nation except it be based upon mordlitg. I do not care for military greatness or military rcn6wn. I care for the condition of the j^^ople among whom I live. Tliere is no man in England who is less likely to speak irrev- erently of the crown and monarchy of England than I am ; but crowns, coronets, miters, military display, the pcjiup of war, wide colonies, and a huge ih, I am ibr the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it sliall be my dying sentiment : Independence now ; and Indipendence forher. Daniel Wfbster SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 317 ' 10. THE COKSTITUTION AND THE UNION. \In this speech tlie movement is slow; the utterance deliberate, the pauses long; and the inficctions strmigly marked.] 1. For mi/self, I propose, Sir, to abide by the prin- ciples I and the p4?yoses | which I have avowal. I shall sttLnd hy the Lfnion, and by all | who stand hy it. I shall do justice to the whole country, according to the best of my ability, in all I say, and act for the ybod of the whole country \ in all I do. I mean to stand upon the Constitution. I need no other platform. I shall know but one country. 2. The ends I aim at | shall be my country's, my God's, and Truth's. I was hdrn \ an American ; I will live an American ; I shall d\e an American ; and I intend to perform the duties incumbent upon me | in that character | to the end of my career. I mean to do this, with the absolute disreyard of personal consequences. 3. What are \ personal consequences ? What is the individual man, with all the good or evil that may he- tide him, in comparison with the good or evil | wliich may befall a c/rcat country \ in a crisis like thhjS, and in the midst of great transactions \ which concern tliat country s fate ? Let the co)isequences \ be what they will. I am careless. No man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon, if he suffer | or if he f;ill [ in defense of the liberties \ and Constitution \ of his coiintry. Webster. 11. THE CONSTITUTION. 1. Never did there devolve on any generation of men higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the pres- ervation of this Constitution, and the harmony and peace of all who are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain which is destined, I fondly 318 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. believe, to grapple the people of all the States to this Constitution for ages to come. 2. We have a great, popular, constitutional govern- ment, guarded by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of the people. Ko monarchical throne presses these States together. They live and stand upon a government popular in its form, representative in its cliaracter, founded upon principles of equality, and so constructed, we liope, as to last forever. 3. In all its history it has been beneficent. It has trodden down no man's liberty, it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism. Its youthful veins are full of enterprise, courage, and hon- orable love of glory and renown. Large before, the country has now, by recent events, become vastly larger. This republic now extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole continent. The two great seas of the world wash the one und the other shore. We realize on a mighty scale the beautiful description of the ornamental ed<2infj of the bucklers of Achilles : "Now the broad .shield complete, the artist crowned With his last hand, and poured the ocean round. In living silver seemed the waves to roll, And beat the buckler's verge and bound the whole." Daniel Webster. 12. DUTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS. 1. We have indulg(Ml in gratifying recollections of the past, in the prosperity and pleasures of the present, and in high hopes for the future. But let us remember that we have duties and obligations to perform, corre- sponding to the l)lessings which we enjoy. 2. Let us remember the trust, the sacred trust, attach- ing to the rich inheritance which we have received from our fathers. Let us feel our personal responsibility, to SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 319 the full extent of our power and influence, for the preservation of the principles of civil and religious lib- erty. And let us remember that it is only religion, and morals, and knowledge, that can make men respectable and happy, under any form of government. 3. Let us hold fast the great truth, that communities are responsible, as well as individuals; that no govern- ment is respectable, which is not just ; that without un- spotted purity of public faith, without sacred public prin- ciple, fidelity, and honor, no mere forms of government, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society. In our day and generation let us seek to raise and im- prove the moral sentiment, so that we may look, not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improved future. 4. And wdien both we and our children shall have been consigned to the house appointed for all living, may love of country and pride of country glow with equal fervor among those to whom our names and our blood shall have descended. 5. And then, when honored and decrepit age shall lean against the base of this monument, and troops of ingenuous youth shall be gathered round it, and when the one shall speak to the other of its objects, the pur- poses of its construction, and tlie great and glorious events with which it is connected, there shall rise from every youthful breast the ejaculation, " Thanh God, I — / also — am an American ! " dasiel Webster. 13. LABOR. 1. Labor is heaven's great ordinance for human im- provement. Let not the great ordinance be broken dhvm. What do I say ? It is broken down ; and hcts been broken down for ages. Let it, then, be huilt again ; here, if dnyiohere, on the shores of a neio world — of a new civilization. 320 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 2. But how, it may be asked, is it broken dhion ? Do not lueu toll? it may be said. They do, indeed, toil; but they too gtiuerally do, because they must. ]\Iany submit to it, as to, iu some sort, a degrading oicchssity ; and they desire nothing so much on i^arth as an escdj)c iiom it. This way of thinking is the heritage of the alj.surd and unjust feudal system, under which serfs L'lbored, and (jcntlcnwn spent their lives in fifjliting and feasting. It is time that this opprobrium of toil were done away. 3. Ashamed to tod ! Ashamed of thy dingy workshop and dusty Za/^o?'-field ; of thy hard hand, scarred with service more honorable than that of ivdr ; of thy soiled and weatlier-stained garments, on which mother Nature has embroidered mist, sun and rdi)i, fire and steam — her own heraldic Jwnors ! 4. Ashamed of tliose tokens and titles, and envious of the flaunting robes of imbecile idleness and vdnitg ! It is treason to Nature; it is impiety to Heaven: it is breaking Heaven's great brdinance. Toil — tdil — either of the hrdin, of the hedrt, or of the hdnd — is the only triie manhood, the only ti^ue nolAlity ! ' ouville dewey. 14. THE FUTURE OF AMERICA. 1. It cannot be denied, but by those who would dis- pute against the siin, that icith America, and i/i America, a neiv era conmiences in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free representative governments, by en- tire orligious liberty, by im])roved systems of national intercourse, by a newly awakened and an uncon(pierable spirit of free inquiry, and by a diffusion ol' knowledge tiuDUgh the eommunity, such as has been before alto- gether unknoivn and unhktrd of 2. AuK^rica, America, our country, our own dear and SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 321 native Idnd, is inseparably conu^cted, fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall, we fall with them ; if they stand, it will be because we have upheld them. 3. Let us contemplate, then, this connection which binds the prosperity of others to our oivn ; and let us manfully discharge all the duties which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues and the j^f'inciples of our fathers. Heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty and human happiness. 4. Auspicious omens cheer us. Great cxdmplcs are before us. Our bion firmament now shines brightly upon our ptkth. Washington is in the clear upper sky. Those other stars have now joined the American constellcition ; they circle round their center, and the heavens beam with new light. Beneath this illumination, let us walk the course of life, and at its close devoutly commend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, to the Divine Benignity. Daniel Webster. 15. PATRIOTISM. 1. Bereft of patriotism, the heart of a nation will be cold and cramped and sordid ; the arts will have no enduring impulse, and commerce no invigorating soul ; society will degenerate, and the mean and vicious will triumph. Patriotism is not a wild and glittering passion, but a glorious reality. The virtue that gave to Paganism its dazzling luster, to Barbarism its redeeming trait, to Christianity its heroic form, is not dead. It still lives to console, to sanctify humanity. It has its altar in every clime ; its worship and festivities. 2. On the heathered hills of Scotland, the sword of Wallace is yet a bright tradition. The genius of France, in the brilliant literature of the day, pays its hicrh 21 322 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. homage to the piety and heroism of the young Maid of Orleans. In her new Senate-hall, England bids her sculptor place, among the effigies of her greatest sons, the images of Hampden and of Eussell. In the gay and graceful capital of Belgium, the daring hand of Geefs has reared a monument full of glorious meaning to the three hundred martyrs of the revolution. 3. By the soft blue waters of Lake Lucerne stands the chapel of William Tell. On the anniversary of his revolt and victory, across those waters, as tliey glitter in the July sun, skim the light boats of the allied can- tons, from the prows hang the banners of the republic, and as they near the sacred spot, the daughters of Lu- cerne chant the hymns of their old poetic land. Then bursts forth the glad Te Deum, and Heaven again hears the voice of that wild chivalry of the mountains, which five centuries since pierced the white eagle of Vienna, and flung it bleeding on the rocks of Uri. T. F. Meagher. 16. THE EOUETH OF JULY. 1. On the Fourth of July, 1776, the representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, declared that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. This decla- ration, made by most patriotic and resolute men, trust- ing in the justice of their cause, and the protection of ' Providence — and yet not without deep solicitude and anxiety — has stood for seventy-five years, iind still stands. 2. It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers and overcome them ; it has had enemies, and it has con- quered them ; it has had detractors, and it has abashed them all ; it lias had douljting friends, but it has cleared all doubts away ; and now, to-day, raising its august lorni higher than the clouds, twenty millions of people SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 323 contemplate it with hallowed love ; and the world beholds it, and the consequences which have followed, with pro- found admiration. 3. This anniversary animates, and gladdens, and unites all American hearts. On other days of the year we may be party men, indulging in controversies more or less important to the public good ; we may have likes and dislikes, and we may maintain our political differences often with warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we are Americans all in all, nothing but Americans. 4. As the great luminary over our heads, dissipating mists and fogs, cheers the whole hemisphere, so do the associations connected with this day disperse all cloudy and sullen weather, and all noxious exhalations in the minds and feelings of true Americans. Every man's heart swells within him ; — every man's port and bearing become somewhat more proud and lofty, as he remem- bers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and that the great inheritance of liberty is still his ; his, undi- minished and unimpaired ; his, in all its original glory ; his to enjoy, his to protect, and his to transmit to future generations. Daniel Webster. 17. TEUE GEEATNESS. 1. The poet tells us, in pathetic cadence, that "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." But this is true only in the superficial sense. It is true that the fdmous and the ohscure, the devoted and the ignoble, "alike await tlie inevitable hbur." But the path of true glory does not end in the gr^ve. It passes through it to larger opportunities of service. 2. A great nature is a shd. " It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." It germinates thus 324 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. in thia world as well as in the Sthcr. Was Warren buried when he fell on the field of a defeat, pierced through the hrdin, at the commencement of the Eevo- liition, by a hidlct that put the land in mourning ? 3. Nb ; the monument that has been raised where his blood reddened the s6d — grdnite though it be in a hun- i dred courses — is a feeble witness of the permanence and ' iuliuence of his spirit among the American phople. He mounted into literature from the moment that he fell; he began to move the soul of a great community ; and part of the principle and enthusiasm of Massachusetts to-day is due to his sacrifice, to the presence of his spirit as a power in the life of the Sttite. 4. Did Montgdmery lose his influence as a force in the Revolution, because he died without victory on its threshold, pierced with three wounds, before Quebec ? Philadelphia was in tears for him ; his eulogies were littered by the most eloquent tongues of America and Britain, and a thrill of his power beats in the volumes of our history, and runs yet through the onset of every Irish brigade beneath the American banner, which he planted on Montredl. 5. Did Laiurcnce die when his breath expired in the defeat on the sea, after his exclamation, "Don't give up the ship!" What victorious captain in that naval war shed forth such pbwer? His spirit soared and touched every flag on every frigate, to make its red more commdnding and its stars flame brighter ; it went abroad in sbngs, and every sailor felt him and feels him now as an insjnrtUion. 6. Tlie soul is not a shadow. Tlic body is. Genius is not a shadoiu ; it is silbstancc. Pdtriotism is not a shadow ; it is light. Gi'eat purposes, and tlie spirit that counts death nothing in contrast with hdnor and the welfare of our cduntry — these are the witnesses that man is not a passing vapor, but an immdrtal spirit. thomas starr kino. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 325 18. THE NOEMANS. 1. In 1066, the Normans invaded England, and the battle of Hastings broke, forever, the Saxon and Danish power. But years passed, and several monarchs filled and vacated the English throne before these Norman pioneers had accomplished their work, and molded the nation to their will. 2. They were warriors — not reformers. They were greedy of power, but impatient of its exercise upon themselves ; greedy of wealth, but lavish in its expend- iture. They were reckless alike of their own and the life of others. Turbulent, unruly — equally dangerous to the people whom they subdued, and to the princes who led them to conquest. Gallant men, full of deeds of knightly courtesy, yet reddening their hands with the blood of civil broil, and ever ready to maintain their right with their swords. 3. Men of clear intellect and giant w^ill, they acknowl- edged an uncertain allegiance to their king, and only bowed their necks to the yoke of God, when at the close of life they deemed it necessary to assume the monastic habit, or to do penance of their goods for the salvation of their souls. 4. From these stern and bloody men, " wlio came in with the Conqueror," or followed in the train of his successors, the noblest families of England are proud to derive their descent ; and even we republicans, upon this distant coast, and at this late period of time, do not refuse our admiration to these Norman pioneers, who, through the mists of the past, loom up like giants before us. 5. Yet our admiration of these old warriors, the ad- miration of the world for them, is not because they shed blood, or amassed or squandered wealth, or swore fealty to their kings, or broke their oaths in rebellion, 326 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. or committed or abstained from the crimes that were common to their age. The Norman pioneers are enrolled in history among the most illustrious of men, because in the dark and troublous times in which they lived, in the midst of confusion and blood, with strong hands and undaunted hearts, they laid deep the first founda- tions of English liberty, and became the fathers of that system of common law which, at the end of eight hun- dred years, is the protection and the glory of all who speak the English tongue. f. p. tracy. 19. WASHINGTON'S BIETHDAY. 1. Inspiring auspices, this day, surround us and cheer us. It is the anniversary of the birth of Washington. We should know this, even if we had lost our calendars, for we should be reminded of it by the shouts of joy and gladness. The whole atmosphere is redolent of his name ; hills and forests, rocks and rivers, echo and re- echo his praises. 2. All the good, whether learned or unlearned, high or low, rich or poor, feel, this day, that there is one treasure common to them all, and that is the fame and character of Washington. They recount his deeds, pon- der over his principles and teachings, and resolve to be more and more guided by them in the future. 3. To the old and the young, to all born in the land, and to all whose love of liberty has brought them from foreign shores to make this tlie home of their adojition, tlie name of Washington is this day an exhilarating theme. Americans by l)irth are proutl of his character, and exiles from foreign shores are eager to partici]»ate in admiration of him ; and it is true that he is this day, here, everywhere, all the world over, more an object of love and regard than on any day since his birth. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 327 4. On Washington's principles, and under the guid- ance of his example, will we and our children uphold the Constitution. Under his military leadership our fathers conquered ; and under the outspread banner of his political and constitutional principles will we also conquer. 5. To that standard we shall adhere, and uphold it through evil report and through good report. We will meet danger, we will meet death, if they come, in its protection ; and we will struggle on, in daylight and in darkness, ay, in the thickest darkness, with all the storms which it may bring with it, till " Danger's troubled night is o'er, And the star of Peace return." Webster. y 20. XATIOXS AND HUMANITY. 1. It was not his olive valleys and orange groves which made the Greece of tlie Greek. It was not for his apple orchards or potato fields that the farmer of New England and New York left his plow in the furrow and marched to Bunker Hill, to Bdunington, to Saratoga. A man's country is not a certain area of land, but it is a ^jrwia^j/c ; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. The secret sanctification of the soil and symbol of a country is the idea which they represent ; and tins idea the patriot worships through the name and the symbol. 2. So with passionate Mroism, of which tradition is never weary of tenderly tilling, Arnold von Winkelreid, gathers into his bosom the sheaf of foreign spears. So, Nathan Hale, disdaining no service that duty demands, perishes untimely with no other friend than God and the satisfied sense of duty. So, through all history from the beginning, a noble army of martyrs has fought 328 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. fiercely, and fallen bravely, for that unseen mistress, their coiXntry. So, through all history to the dud, that army must still march, and fight, and fall. 3. But countries and fdviilies are but mirseries and Influences. A man is a fdtlier, a hrdfher, a German, a Roman, an American; but beneath all ^A2i;e relations, Ae -zs « ??id7i. The end of his human destiny is not to be the best German, or the best Eoman, or the best father ; but the hest man he can be. george w. Curtis. 21. CHAEACTER OF WASHINGTON. 1. Sir, it matters very little what immediate spot may be the birthplace of such a man as JVdshinyton. No people can claim, no country can appropriate him. Tlie boon of Providence to the human race, his fame is eternity, and his residence creation. Though it was the defeat of our d7^ms, and the disgrace of our piolicy, I almost Uhs the convulsion in M'liich he had his origin. If the heavens thiindercd, and the earth rdcked, yet, when the storm |)dsscfZ, how pu'^x was the climate that it cleared ; how hriglit, in the brow of the firmament, was the pldnet which it revealed to us ! 2. In the production of Wdsldngton, it does really appear as if Nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself, and tliat all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory to the patriot of the new. Individual instances no doubt there wdre — splendid exemplifications of some single qualification. Cffisar was 7nkrciful ; Scipio was continent ; Hannibal was p)dtient ; but it was reserved for Washington to blend them all in 6ne, and, like the lovely masterpiece of the Grecian artist, to exhibit, in one glow of associated beauty, the pride of every mddel, and the perfection of every master. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 329 3. As a general, he marshalled the 2^^<^(sant into a vet- eran, and supplied by d/iscipline the absence of experience ; as a statesman, lie enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of general advan- tage ; and such was the wisdom of his views, and the philosophy of his cdicnsels, that to the soldier and the statesman, he almost added the character of the sage ! A conqueror, he was untainted with the crime of hlbod ; a revolutionist, he was free from any stain of treason ; for aggression commenced the contest, and his country called him to the command. 4 Liberty unsheathed his sword, necessity stained, vic- tory returned it. If he had paused hire, history might have doubted what station to assign him ; whether at the head of her citizens or her soldiers, her Mroes or her patriots. But the last glorious act crowns his carder, and banishes all hesitation. Wlio, like Washington, after having emancipated a Mmisphcre, resigned its crotvn, and preferred tlie retirement of domestic life to the adoration of a land he might be almost said to have Credted ? Phillips. 22. BUNKEE-HILL MONUMENT. 1. The Bunker-Hill monum.ent is finished. Here it stands. Fortunate in the natural eminence on which it is placed — higher, Infinitely higher, in its objects and purpose, it rises over the kind, and over the sda ; and visible, at their homes, to three hundred thousand citi- zens of Massachusetts — it stands, a memorial of the past, and a monitor to the present, and all succeeding generations. 2. I have spoken of the loftiness of its purpose. If it had been without any other design than the creation of a work of art, the granite of which it is composed 330 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. would have slept in its native bed. It hds a purpose ; and that purpose gives it character. TJidt purpose enrobes it with dignity and moral grandeur. That well- known purpose it is, which causes us to look up to it with a feeling of awe. It is itself the drator of this occasion. 3. It is not from my lips, it is not from any htiman lips, that that strain of eloquence is this day to flow, most competent to move and excite the vast multitudes around. The potent speaker stands motionless hcfure them. It is a plain shdft. It bears no inscriptions, fronting to the rising siin, from which the future anti- quarian shall wipe the diist. Nor does the rising sun cause tones of miisic to issue from its summit. But at the rising of the sun, and at the sUting of the sun, in the blaze of ?io'ow.-day, and beneath the milder efful- gence of livnctr light, it looks, it speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of every American mind, and the awakening of glowing enthusiasm in every American heart. 4. Its silent, but awful utterance ; its deep pathos, as it brings to our contemplation the 17th of June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted to us, to our country, and to tlie w(')rld, from the events of that day, and wliich we know must continue to rain influence on the destinies of mankind to the end of time ; the eleva- tion with which it raises us high above the ordinary feelings of life — surpass all that the study of the closet, or even the inspiration of genius can produce. 5. To-day, it speaks to ils. Its fiiture auditories will be through successive generations of mdn, as they rise up he/ure it, and gather rbund it. Its speech will be of pdtriotism and churage ; of civil and religious hherty ; of free govcrnriient ; of tlie moral improvement and ele- vation of mankind; and of the immortal memory of those wh('), with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their lives for their chuntry. daniel websteb. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 331 23. THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON. 1. Tlie birthday of the " Father of his Country" ! May it ever be freshly remembered by American hearts ! May it ever re-awaken in them a filial veneration for his memory ; ever rekindle the fires of patriotic regard for the country which he loved so well, to which he gave his youthful vigor and his yoiithful energy, during the perilous period of the early Indian warfare ; to which he devoted his life in the maturity of his powers, in the field ; to which again he offered the counsels of his wis- dom and his experience, as president of the convention that framed our Constitution; which he guided and directed while in the chair of state, and for which the last prayer of his earthly supplication was offered up, when it came the moment for him so well, and so grandly, and so calmly, to die. 2. He was the first man of the time in which he grew. His memory is first and most sacred in our love, and ever hereafter, till the last drop of blood shall freeze in the last American heart, his name shall be a spell of power and of miglit. 3. Yes, gentlemen, there is one personal, one vast felicity, which no man can share with him. It was the daily beauty, and towering and matchless glory of his life which enabled him to create his country, and at the same time secure an undying love and regard from the whole American people. "The first in the hearts of his countrymen!" Yes, first! He has our first and most fervent love. 4. Undoubtedly there were brave and wise and good men, before his day, in every colony. But the Amer- ican nation, as a nation, I do not reckon to have begun before 1774. And the first love of that Young America was Washington. The first word she lisped was his name. Her earliest breath spoke it. It still is her 332 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. proud ejaculation ; and it will be the last gasp of her expiring life! 5. Yes; others of our great men have been appre- ciated — many admired by all ; but him we love ; him we all love. About and around him we call up no dissen- tient and discordant and dissatisfied elements — no sec- tional prejudice nor bias — no party, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of these shall assail him. Yes ; when the storm of battle blows darkest and rages highest, the memory of Washington shall nerve every American arm, and cheer every American heart. r^fus choate. Y 24. THE NATIONAL CLOCK. 1. Every nation is like a clbcJc, the forces at work within carrying forward some purpose or plan of Prov- idence with patient constancy; but when the season comes that the sixtieth rmmtte is diie, and a 'iuiu hdur must be sounded, perhaps not for the nation alone, but for the world, th^n — tlixn the clock strikes, and it may be witli a force and resonance that startles and inspires the race. 2. The first American revolution was such a jphriod — thdt was the glory of it. The English Government had oppressed our fathers. It tried to break their spirit. For several ydars it was a dark time, like the hours before the striking of the dawn. 3. But the Colonial time-piece kept ticlcing, ticking to the pressure of the English Government, the giant wheels playing calmly till about 1775', when there was a strange stir and Inizz within the ckse. The people could not bear any mbre of it. But the sixtieth nnnute came, and the clock struck. 4. The lodrld h^ard — the battle of Lexington — one ; the Declaration of Independence — tivb ; the surrender of Bur- SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 333 gdyne — three; the siege of Yorktoimi—four; the Treaty of Fdris—five; the inauguration of Washington — six. 5. And then it was sunrise of the nevj day, of which we have seen yet only the glorious forenoon. Thomas Stare King. 25. FEEE SCHOOLS. 1. It is impossible for us adequately to conceive the boldness of the measure which aimed at universal edu- cation through the establishment of Free Schools. As a fact, it had no precedent in the world's history ; and, as a theory, it could have been refuted and silenced by a more formidable array of argument and experience than was ever marshaled against any other institution of human origin. 2. But time has ratified its soundness. Two centuries of successful operation now proclaim it to be as wise as it was courageous, and as beneficent as it was disin- terested. Every community in the civilized world awards it the meed of praise, and States at home, and nations abroad, in the order of their intelligence, are copying the bright examjde. 3. What we call the enlightened nations of Christen- dom are approaching, by slow degrees, to the moral elevation which our ancestors reached at a single bound ; and the tardy convictions of the one have been assimi- lating, through a period of two centuries, to the intuitions of tlie other. 4. The establishment of Free Schools was one of those grand mental and moral experiments whose effects could not be developed and made manifest in a single genera- tion. But now, according to the manner in which human life is computed, we are the sixth generation from its founders ; and have we not reason to be grateful, both to God and man, for its unnumbered blessings ? The 334 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. sincerity of our gratitude must be tested by our efforts to perpetuate and to improve what they established. The gratitude of the lips only is an unholy offering. Horace Mahn. 26. THE BALLOT. 1. Consider, for a moment, what it is to cast a vote. It is the token of inestimahlc privileges, and involves the responsibilities of an hereditary trust. It has passed into your hands as a right, reaped from fields of suffer- ing and blood. 2. The grandeur of history is represented in your act. Men have wrought with pen and tdngue, and pined in dungeons, and died on scaffolds, that you might obtain this symbol of freedom, and enjoy this consciousness of a sacred individuality. To tlie ballot have been trans- mitted, as it wdre, the dignity of the sceptre and the potency of the sioord. 3. And tluit which is so potent as a right, is also pregnant as a dilty ; a duty for the present and for the future. If you ivill, that folded leaf becomes a tdngue of justice, a voice of order, a force of imperial law — securing rights, abolishing abuses, erecting new institu- tions of truth and love. And, however you will, it is the expression of a solemn responsihllity, the exercise of an immeasurable power for good or for dvil, now and hereafter. 4. It is the medium through which you net upon your country — tlie organic nerve which incorporates y6u. with its life and wUfare. There is no agent with which the possibilities of the republic are more intimately in- vdlved, none upon which we can fall back with more confidence than the hdllot-hox. e. h. chapin. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 335 27. EDUCATIONAL POWER. 1. The true teacher must have the faith of martyrs. In the limited horizon of the school-room, the teacher can dimly see only the beginning of the effects of his training upon his pupils. The solid and lasting results, the building up of character, the creative power of motives, are made evident only in the wider circle of the world, and at the end of a life-time. Hence the power of the teacher, like that of the silent and invis- ible forces of nature, is only feelily realized. 2. I once visited, in the Sierra, a quartz mine of fabulous richness. Deep in the bowels of the earth, swarthy miners were blasting out tlie gold-bearing rock ; above, the powerful mill was crushing the quartz with its iron teeth. In the office, piles of yellow bars, ready to be sent to the mint to be poured into the channels of trade, showed the immediate returns of well-directed labor and wisely invested capital. An hour later, I stepped into a public school-house not half a mile distant, where fifty children were conning their lessons. What does the school yield, I asked myself, on the invest- ment of money by the State ? The returns of the mine were made in solid bullion ; the school returns were all far in the unknown future. 3. I crossed the continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic on the grandest commercial highway ever built, and all along, towns, villages, cities, mines, farms, machine shops, manufactories, and converging roads bore evidence of the mighty physical forces of the nation ; and when I entered a meeting of the National Educational Association in a Boston school-house, where two hundred thouirlitful men and women were assembled, it seemed, after wit- nessing the gigantic play of industrial and commercial forces, that the school-masters and school-mistresses were lookers-on and idlers in the bustling life around. 336 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. But when, in tlie mild summer evening, I walked nuder the elms of Boston Common and reflected that independence was once only a dim idea in the minds of a few leading patriots ; that the engine which had whirled me over the iron track, three thousand miles in seven days, was once only an idea in the Lrain of an enthu- siast ; that the telegraph wires, radiating like nerves from the centers of civilization, were created by the in- ventive genius of an educated thinker, I realized that there is a silent power, mightier than all mechanical forces, which preserves, directs, and controls the material prosperity of a great nation. 5. I go out into the streets of the great commercial center of our country. I hear everywhere the hum of industry, and see around the stir of business. I see the steamships plying like gigantic shuttles to weave a net- work of commercial relations between the new world and the old. I see the smoke of manufactories where skillful artisans are constructing tlie marvelous produc- tions of inventive genius. The banks are open ; keen capitalists are on 'Change ; and the full tide of human- ity is pulsating through every artery of the town. The results of business are solid and tangible. I step into the New York Normal College where a thousand young women are fitting for the profession of teaching, and if asked for the tangible results of the educational invest- ment, the evidences are not at hand. 6. But when I pause to consider that intelligence is the motive power of trade ; that the city with its banks, ware- houses, churches, residences, and manufactories, is the product of skilled labor; that the steamship is navigated by means of science, and is built as a triumph of art : that science surveyed the railroad lines, and that skill runs the trains freighted with the products of industry and art ; then I begin to perceive some connection between educational forces and the material results of civilization. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 337 28. SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 1. Looking into the near future, I see the aisles of the school-room widen into the broad streets of the city. The boys are business men. One commands the steam- ship, one operates the telegraph, and another runs an en- gine ; one is a railroad director, and another rides over the road to take his seat in the senate of the L^nited States. One works a gold mine, another an iron mine, and another a coal mine ; one is a merchant, one a banker, one a Wall-street speculator; one is a farmer in the west, another a manufacturer in the east; one is a mer- chant, another a mechanic, and a third is an inventor. 2. The girls have become women. Some preside as queens in home circles, some are teachers, some are writers, some are artists, and others are skilled in household work. I realize that the life of a nation is made up of mothers that guard the homes of the men who drive the plow, build the ships, run the mills, work the mines, construct machinery, print the papers, shoulder the musket, and cast the ballots ; and it is for all these that the public schools have done and are now doing their beneficent work. 3. When I ponder over the far-reaching influence of the teacher and the school, I comprehend, in some measure, the relation to our national w^ell-being, of our American system of free public schools — the best, not- withstanding its defects and shortcomings, that the world has ever known. It is the duty of every teacher to strive with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, to perfect a system of education which shall train a race of men and women in the next generation, that shall inherit, with the boundless re- sources of our favored land, something of the energy, enterprise, talent, and character of the sturdy pioneers who settled and subdued the wilderness. 22 338 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. Only timid and despairing souls are frightened into the belief that the foundations of society are breaking up on account of over-education in the common schools. Neither representatives of the Caste of Capital nor the Caste of Culture can convince the American people that vice, crime, idleness, poverty, and social discontent are the necessary result of an elementary education among the workers of society. Ko demagogue, with specious statements, can lead any considerable number of citizens to regard the school-master as a public enemy. 5. The free common school is the Plymouth Eock of American liberty. If the system of free schools, as now conducted and organized, fails to meet the needs of social progress, not the extent, but the hind and quality, of education must be changed. Neither hioh school nor university must be lopped off from our free-school system. 6. It is only through skilled labor, wisely and intelli- gently directed, that a people can become or remain permanently prosperous and happy ; it is only by means of intelligent and educated voters that liberty can be preserved ; and it is only by means of a more complete education among all classes that humanity can rise to a higher type of social evolution. There is no slavery so oppressive as that of ignorance. 29. ELEMENTS OF THE AMEEICAN GOVERNMENT. 1. The English colonists in America, generally speak- ing, were men who were seeking new homes in a new world. They brought with them their families and all that was most dear to them. Many of them were edu- cated men, and all possessed their full share, according to their social condition, of knowledge and attainments of that a^e. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 339 2. The distinctive characteristic of their settlement is the introduction of the civilization of Europe into a wilderness, without bringing with it the political insti- tutions of Europe. The arts, sciences, and literature of England came over with the settlers. That great por- tion of the common law which regulates the social and personal relations and conduct of men, came also. 3. The jury came ; the habeas corpus came ; the tes- tamentary power came ; and the law of inheritance and descent came also, except that part of it which recog- nizes the rights of primogeniture, which either did not come at all, or soon gave way to the rule of equal par- tition of estates among children. 4. But the monarchy did not come, nor the aristocracy, nor the Church, as an estate of the realm. Political institutions were to be framed anew, such as should be adapted to the state of things. But it could not be doubtful what should be the nature and character of these institutions. A general social equality prevailed among the settlers, and an equality of political rights seemed the natural, if not the necessary consequence. Dahiel Webster. 340 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. SECTION III. RECITATIONS AND BEADINGS : POETRY. 1. THE CROWDED STREET. 1. Let me move slowly | through the street, Filled I with an ever-shifting train, Amid the sound | of steps that beat | The murmuring vjdlks \ like autumn rain. 2. How fast I the flitting figures \ come ! The mild, the fidrce, the stbny face ; Some 1 bright with thoughtless smiles, and some \ Where secret tears \ have left their trace. 3. They pass — to toil, to strife, to rht ; To hdlls I in which the feast \ is spread ; To chambers | wliere the funeral guest | In silence | sits | beside the dead ! 4. And some \ to happy hbmes repair, Where children pressing cheek to cheek, With mute caresses \ shall declare j The tSnderness | they cannot spiah. 5. And s6me, yvho walk in calmness hdre. Shall shudder when they reach the door ) Where one \ who made their dwelling ddar, Its flower, its light, is seen no more. 6. Youth, with pale cheek ] and slender frame, And dreams of greatness | in tliine eye ! Goest thou to build an early name, Or early | in tlie task | to die ? 7. Keen son of tr;idc, with eager brow ! Who I is now fluttering | in thy sn^re ? Thy golden fortunes, tower they now, Or melt | the glittering spires [ in Mr ? SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 341 8. Who I of this crowd | to-night | shall tread | The dance | till daylight gleam again ? Who I sorrow o'er the untimely dead ? Who I writhe | in throes | of mortal pain ? 9. Sdme | famine-struck, shall think how long | The cold | dark hours, how slow | the light; And some, who flaunt amid the throng, Shall hide | in dens of shhme \ to-night. 10. Each, where his tasks or pleasures call, They pass, and heed each other not. There is \ who heeds, who holds them all, In His large Idvc \ and boundless thbught. 11. These struggling tides | of life [ that seem | In wayward, aimless course to tdnd, Are Eddies | of the mighty stream | That rdlls \ to its appointed end. bryant. 2. THE BUILDERS. All I are architects of FMe, Working | in these walls of Time ; S6me I with massive deeds | and great, Some I with ornaments | of rhyme. Nothing I useless is | or Ibiu ; Each thing | in its place | is best; And what seems \ but idle shdtv \ Strengthens | and supports the rfest. For the structure \ that we raise, Time \ is with materials | filled ; Our to-days | and yesterdays | Are the hldcks \ with which we hixild. Truly shape | and fashion thhe ; Leave no yawning ^Aps [ between ; 342 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. ThinJc not, because no man s^es, Such things j will remain unskn. 5. In the elder days | of art, Builders wrought | with greatest care [ Each minute ] and unseen part; For the gods are hvcryv:here. 6. Let us do our work | as loell. Both the linseen \ and the seen; Make the house, where gods \ may dwell, Beautiful, entire, and clfean. 7. Else our lives | are incomplete. Standing | in these walls of Time; Broken stairways, where tlie feet | Stumble \ as they seek to climb. 8. Build to-day, then, strong and sure, . With a firm | and ample hdse^ ' And I ascending and secure | Shall to-morrow \ find its pl^ce. 9. Thus alone | can we attain | To those turrets, where the eye | Sees the world | as one vast plain, And one boundless reach | of sky. 3. PSALM OF LIFE. 1. Tell me not \ in mournful numbers, Life I is but an empty dream; For the soul | is dhid \ that slumbers, And things | arc not | what they skm. 2. Life I is real ! Life | is Earnest ! And the grave | is nbt its goal ; Dust I thou art, to dust returnest. Was not spoken | of the soul. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 343 3. Not enjoyment, and not sbrrow, Is our destined end or way; But to lid that each to-morrow | Finds us farther | than to-day. 4. Art I is l(5ng, and Time | is flfeeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating j Funeral marches | to the grave. 5. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle ; — Be a hero \ in the strife I 6. Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant ! Let the dead Past | hury its dead ! Act — act in the living Present I Heart tvithin, and God ] overhead. 7. Lives of great men | all remind us | We can make our lives | sublime. And, departing, leave behind us | Foot-priiits | on the sands of time. 8. Foot-prints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main — A forlorn | and shipwrecked brother — Seeing, shall take heart again. 9. Let us, then, be ilp and doing, With a heart | for any fate ; Still achieving, still 2^UTSiling, Learn to Idhor \ and to wtlit. Longfellow, 344 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. APOSTEOPHE TO THE OCEAN. [This poem is to be read with slow movement, median stress, expul- sive orotund quality, and strona forced 1. There is a 'pleasure \ in tlie pathless woods, There is a rwpture \ ou the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar. I love not man the less \ but nature | more, From these our interviews, in which 1 steal | From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle witli the universe, and feel | What I can ne'er exprlss, yet can not all conceal. Pioll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, rbll ! Ten tlwusand fleets J sweep over thee in v^in. Man I marks the darth with rixin — his control j Stops with the shore; — upon the watery ^:)Mm | The lurecks \ are all thy deed, nor doth remain | A shadow of mtnis rdvage, save his oion, When, for a moment, like a drop of rdin. He sinks into thy depths ] with bubbling groan — Without a grave, unknclled, uncoffined, and unknown. Tlie drrnaments \ which thunderstrike the walls | Of rock-huilt cities, bidding ndtions quake, | And mSnarchs \ tremble in their capitals ; The oak leviathan, whose huge rihs make [ Tlieir clay creator | the vain title take | Of lord of thee, and arbiter of wdr — Th^se I are thy ibys, and, as the snowy fldke, They melt into thy yeast of vjdves, which mar Alike I the Armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalghr. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 345 4. Thy shores are hnpircs, changed in all save thle ; — Assyria, Grdece, Eome, Cartilage, whdit are thhy? Thy waters | washed them power | while they were /ree, And many a tyrant \ since ; their shores obey | The sti'dngcr, slave, or savage ; their decay | Has dried up realms to deserts : not so | thOu ; UnchdngeaUe \ save to thy wild waves' pliiy, Time \ writes no tvrlnJde | on thine azure brow : Such as creation's ddwn beJield, thou rollest noio. 5. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form | Glasses itself in temjoests ; in all t%me, Calm or convulsed — in breeze, or gale, or storm — Icing the p6le, or in the torrid clime | Bark heaving ; boundless, endless, and sublime ! The image of eternity — the throne \ Of the Invisible; even from out thy shme \ The monsters of the deep \ are made; each zone | Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, albne. And I have Ibved thee, ocean ! and my joy | Of youthful sports | was on thy breast to be Borne, like thy bubbles, onward; from a bby \ I wantoned witli thy breakers — they | to me | Were a delight ; and, if the freshening sda | Made them a terror, 't was a pleasing fdar ; For I was, as it were, a child of thee, And trusted to tliy billows \fdr and nkir, And laid my hand upon thy mane — as do I hhe. Byron. 346 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 5. BATTLE OF WATEELOO. 1. There was a sound of revelry by niglit, And Belgium's cdpital had gathered then Her hecmty and her chivalry, and bright The lamps shone o'er fair ivdmen and hrdve men; A tlwusaiid hearts beat happily; and when Music arose with its volujjtuoiis swell, Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, And all went riUrry as a marriage-\)Q\\ ; — But hush ! hark ! a deep sdund strikes like a rising knell ! 2. Did ye not Mar it ? — Nb ; 't was but the wind. Or the cdr rattling o'er the stony strfeet: On with the dance ! let joy be unconf ined ; No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet To chase the glowing hours with flying fdet But hark ! — that heavy sound breaks in once more. As if the clhuds its echo would repeat; And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! Arm ! akm ! it is — it is — the cannons opening roar ! 3. Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all pule, which but an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own Ibvclincss ; And there were sudden ^mrtings, such as press Tlie life from out young hearts, and choking slglis Which ne'er might be repeated; who could guess If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, Since upon night so sweet such awful mbrn could rise ? 4. And there was mounting in hot h^ste ; the stSed, The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 347 Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, And swiftly forming in the ranks of war; And the day thunder 'pcal on 'pcal afar ; And near, the beat of the aldrming drum Roused up the soldier ere the morning stcir ; While thronged the citizens with terror dumb, Or whispering with white lips : " The fbe ! They come ! they chine ! " 5. And Ardennes waves above them her green Idaves, Dewy with nature's tdar-drops, as they pass, Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er gridves. Over the unreturning hrtbve — alas ! — Ere evening to be trodden jike the grccss, Which now beneath them, but above shall grow In its nlxt verdure, when this fiery mass Of living vcilor, rolling on the fde, And burning with high hdpe, shall moulder cold and low 6. Last nSon beheld them full of lusty life; Last eve in BeaiXty's circle ijroiidly ghy ; The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife; The morn, the marshaling in cirnis — the day, Battle's inagnificently stern arrhy ! The thunder-clouds close b'er it, which, when rdnt, The earth is covered thick with other clay — Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and p^nt, Eider and horse — friend, foe — in one red burial blent. Byron's Childe Harold. 6. SANTA riLOMENA. This poem was •written in honor of Florence Nightingale, an Eng- lish lady, distinguished for her philanthropy, and for her devotion to the sick and wounded soldiers in the Crimean war. "Filomena" is the Latin for "Nightingale." There is a Saint Filomena, who is 348 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. represented as floating clown from heaven attended by two angels bearing the lily, palm, and javelin, and beneath, in the foreground, the sick and maimed, who are healed by her intercession. 1. Whene'er a noble deed | is wrought, Whene'er is spoke | a noble thought, Our hearts, in glad surprise, To higher levels \ rise. 2. The tidal wave | of deeper souls | Into our inmost being | rolls. And lifts us ] unawares | Out of all meaner cares. 3. Honor to those | whose words and deeds | Thus help us | in our daily n^eds. And I by their overflow | Eaise us | from what is 16w ! 4. Thus thought I, as by night T rdad | Of the great army | of the ddad, The trenches | cold and damp; The starved | and frozen camp ; 5. The wounded [ from the battle plain, In dreary hospitals of pain — The cheerless corridors, The cold ] and stony floors. 6. L6 ! in tliat house of misery | A lady | with a lamp | I see | Pass through the glimmering gloom. And flit I from room to rc)om. 7. And slow I as in a dream of bliss. The speechless sufferer | turns to kiss | Her shadow, as it falls | Upon the darkening w^lls. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 349 8. As if a door in heaven | should be | Opened | and then closed suddenly, The vision | came and wdnt, The light shone | and was spfent. 9. On England's annals, the long Hereafter | of her speech and song, That light | its rays | shall cast | From portals | of the past. 10. A Lady with a Lamp | shall stand | In the great history of the land, A noble type of good. Heroic womanhood. 11. Nor even shall be wanting here | The palm, the lily, and the sp^ar, The symbols | that of yore | Santa Filomena bore. Longfellow. 7. THE DEATH STEUGGLE. [An example of animated and impassioned description, characterized by fast movement and radical stress.] "Now yield thee, or, by Him who made The world, thy hcdrfs blood dyes my blade ! " " Thy threats, thy mercy I defy ! Let recreant yield, who fears to die,r — Like adder darting from his coil. Like wolf \hsXj dashes through the toil, Like mountain-cat who guards her young, Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; Eecdived, but recked not of a wound, And locked his arms his foeman round. — Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! No maidens arm is round thee thrown! 350 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. That desperate grasp thy frame might fdel Through bars of brass and triple steel ! — They tug, they strain ! down, down, they go, The Gael above, Fitz-James below. The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed; His knee was planted in his breast; His clotted locks he backward threw, Across his brow his hand he drdw, From blood and mist to clear his sight, Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! — But hate and fury ill supplied The stream of life's exhausted tide ; And all too late the advantage came. To turn the odds of deadly game ; For, while the dagger gleamed on high, Eeeled s6ul and seTise, reeled brain and eye. Down came the blow ! but in the heath The erring hldde found bloodless sheath. The struggling foe may now unclasp The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; Unwounded from the dreadful close. But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. sco-rr. 8. SANDALPHOK 1. Have you read in the Talmud of old. In the Legends the llabbins have told Of the limitless realms of the air; Have you read it — tlie marvelous story Of Sandal phon, the Angel of Glory, Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer ? 2. How, erect, at the outermost gates Of the City Celestial he waits. With his feet on the ladder of light, SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 351 That, crowded with angels unnumbered, By Jacob was seen, as he slumbered Alone in the desert at night ? 3. The Angels of Wind and of Fire Chant only one hymn, and expire With the song's irresistible strfess — Expire in their rapture and wonder, As harp-strings are broken asunder By music they throb to express. 4. But serene in the rapturous throng, Unmoved by the rush of the song, Witli eyes unimpassioned and slow, ^ Among the dead angels, the deathless Sandalphon stands Ustening, breathless, To sounds that ascend from below ; — 5. From the spirits on earth that adore. From the souls that entreat and implore In the fervor and passion of prayer; From the hearts that are broken with losses, And weary with dragging the crosses Too heavy for mortals to bear. 6. And he gathers the prayers as he stands, And they change into flowers in his hands, Into garlands of purple and red; And beneath the great arch of the portal, Through the streets of the City Immortal Is wafted the fragrance they shed. 7. It is but a legend I know, A fable, a phantom, a show, Of the ancient Rabbinical lore ; Yet the old mediaeval tradition. The beautiful, strange superstition. But haunts me and holds me the more. 352 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. When I look from my window at night, And the welkin above is all white, All throbbing and panting with stars, Among them, majestic, is standing Sandalphon, the angel, expanding His pinions in nebulous bars. 9. And the legend, I fdel, is a part Of the hunger and thirst of the lieart — The frdnzy and fire of the brain. That grasps at the fruitage forbidden. The golden pomegranates of £den, To quiet its fever and pain. lokgfellow. 9. THE OLD CONTINENTALS. [This piece may be rendered with a considerable degree of imitative reading. It is characterized by declamatory force, radical stress, and orotund quality. Let the class mark for rlietorical pauses, empJiasis, and inflections.] 1. In their ragged regimentals. Stood the old Continentals, Yielding n6t, When the Grenadiers were Mnging, And like hail fell the plunging Cknnon-^hot ; When the files Of the isles, From the smoky night encampment bore the banner of the rampant tJnicorn, Antl grummcr, grummer, grummcr, rolled the roll of the drummer, Through the morn ! 2. Then with eyes to the frdnt all. And with guns horizdntal. Stood our sires; SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 353 And the balls whistled deadly^ And in streams flashing redly Blazed the fires ; As the roar On the shore, Swept the strong battle-breakers o'er the green-sodded acres Of the plain ; And louder, louder, louder, cracked the black gunpowder, Cracked amain ! 3. Now like smiths at their forges Worked the red St. George's Cannoniers ; And the villainous "saltpeter" Eang a fierce, discordant m^ter Eound their ears; As the swift Storm-drift, With hot, sweeping anger, came the horse-guards' clangor On our flanks. Then higher, higher, higher, burned the old-fashioned fire Through the rccnks ! 4 Then the old-fashioned Colonel Galloped through the white infernal Pbwdcr-oiowd. ; And his broadsword was svnnging. And his brazen throat was ringing Triimpet-\ond. Then the blue Bullets fl^w, And the trdoper-jsicliets redden at the touch of the leaden Elfle-hresith. And rounder, rounder, rounder, roared the iron six-pounder. Hurling death! mcMasters. 23 354 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 10. THE WINDS. [Ecad this poem line by line, and let tJie class repeat, in concert, after you. Then require each pupil, in turn, to go upon the platform and read one stanza, subject to the criticism of tli£ class and teacher.^ 1. Ye winds, ye unseen currents of the air, Soi'tly ye played, a few brief hours ago; Ye bore the murmuring bfee ; ye tossed the hair O'er maiden cheeks that took a fresher glow ; Ye rolled the round white cloud through depths of bli!ie, Ye shook from shaded flowers the lingering dfew; Before you the catalpa's blossom tidw, Llglit blossoms, dropping on the grass like snow. 2. What change is this ? Ye take the cataract^s sound ; Ye take the ivhirlpooVs fury and its might ; Tlie mountain shudders as ye sweep the ground ; The valley woods lie prone beneath your flight; The clouds before you shoot like baffles past; Tlie homes of men are rocking in your blast; Ye lift the roofs like autumn leaves, and cast, Skyward, the whirling fragments out of sight. 3. Tlie weary fowls of heaven make wing in vain, To 'scape your wrath; ye seize and dash them dead; Against the earth ye drive the roaring r^iin ; The harvest field becomes a river's bed ; And thrrcnts tumble from the hills around ; Plains turn to lakes, and villages are drowned; And wailing ruires, midst the tempest's sound, llise, as tlie rushing waters swell and spread. 4. Ye dart upon the deep; and straight is heard A vAlder roar; and men grow pale and pray; SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 355 Ye fling its floods around you, as a bird Flings o'er his shivering plumes the fountain's spray. She ! to the breaking mast the sdiloi^ clings ; Ye scoop the dcean to its briny springs, And take the mountain billow on your wings, And pile the wreck of navies round the bay. 5. "Why rage ye thus ? — no strife for liberty Has made you mad ; no tyrant, strong through f^ar, Has chained your pinions till ye wrenched them frde, And rushed into the unmeasured atmosphere; For ye were born in freedom where ye blow ; Free o'er the mighty deep to come and go; Earth's solemn woods were yours, her wastes of snow. Her isles where summer blossoms all the yfear. 6. O ye wild winds ; a mightier power than yours In chains upon the shore of Europe lies ; The sceptered throng, whose fetters he endures, Watch his mute throes with terror in their eyes ; And arm^d warriors all around him stand, And, as he struggles, tighten every band. And lift the heavy spear, with threatening hand, To pierce the victim, should he strive to rise. 7. Yet oh ! when that wronged Spirit of our race Shall br^ak, as soon he must, his long-worn chains, And leap in freedom from his ^;?'{.so?i-place, Lord of his ancient hills and fruitful plains, Let him not rise, like these mad winds of air, To waste the loveliness that time could spare. To fill the earth with woe, and blot the fair Unconscious brc^ast with blood from human v^ins. 356 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. But may he like the Spring-time come abroad, Who crumbles Winter's gyves with gentle might, When in the genial breeze, the breath of God, Come spouting up the unsealed springs to light ; Flowers start from their dark prisons at his ffeet, The woods, long dumb, awake to hymnings sweet ; And morn and eve, whose glimmerings almost mdet, Crowd back to narrow bounds the ancient night. Bbyamt. 11. THE DAY IS DONE. 1. The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of ISTight, As a feather is wafted downward From an hagle in his flight. 2. I see the lights of the village Gleam through the rain and the mist. And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me That my soul cannot resist. 3. A feeling of sadness and longing, That is not akin to pain, And resembles sorrow only, As the mist resembles the roiin. 4. Come, read to me some phem, Some simple and heartfelt lay, That shall soothe this restless fdeling, And banish the thoughts of day. 5. N6t from the grand old masters, N6t from the bards sublime, Whose distant footsteps echo Throu!];li the corridors of Time. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 357 6. For, like strains of mdrtial music, Their mighty thoughts suggest Life's endless t6il and endeavor; And to-ni'ght I long for rest. 7. Eead from some h'dinhleo' poet, Whose songs gushed from his heart. As shdivers from the clouds of summer. Or tears from the eyelids start; 8. Who, through long days of labor, And nights devoid of dase, Still heard in his soul the music Of wonderful melodies. 9. Such songs have power to quiet The restless pulse of care, And come like the benediction That follows after prayer. 10. Then read from the treasured volume The poem of thy choice, And lend to the rhyme of the poet The beauty of thy voice. 11. And the night shall be filled with music. And the cares that infest the day, Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal aw^y. Longfellow. 12. THE BATTLE-FIELD. 1, Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands, Were trampled | by a hurrying crowd, And fiery hedrts | and arm^d hands \ Encountered in the &^^^^c-cloud. 358 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 2. Ah' ! never shall the land forget | Hov/ gushed the life-blood \ of her brave— Gushed, warm with hope and courage ydt, Upon tlie s6il | they fouglit to shve. 3. Now all is calm, and frdsh and still; Alone the chirp of flitting bird, And talk of children on the hill, And bell of wandering kine \ are hfeard. 4 No solemn host goes trailing by The black-mouthed giin \ and staggering wain ; Men start not at the hdttlc-cry ; Oh, be it never heard again ! 5. Soon rested | those who fought; but thou, Who minglest in the harder strife | For truths | which men receive not now. Thy warfare | only ends with l\fe,. 6. A friendless warfare ! lingering long | Through weary day | and weary y^ar. A wild and many-weaponed throng | Hang on thy front, and flank, and r^ar, 7. Yet nerve thy spirit | to the proof. And blench not at thy chosen lot; The timid good may stand aloof, The sage may frown — yet faint thou nht. 8. Nor liced the shdi't | too surely cast, The foul I and hissing bolt of scorn ; For with thy side | shall dwell, at last, The victory | of endiXrance \ born. 9. Tnith j crushed to darth | shall rise again ; The eternal years \ of Ghd are lifers ; But J^rror \ wounded, writhes in pain. And dies \ among his wbrshipers. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 359 10. Yea, though thou lie upon the diist, When they who helped thee flee in fdar, Die I full of hope and manly trust, Like those who fell in tattle here. 11. Another hand | the sword shall wield, Another hand | the standard wave, Till from the trumpet's mouth | is pdaled The blast of trmiiqoh \ o'er thy grave. Beyaut. 13. HYMN TO MONT BLANC. [This is a difficult piece of reading. It, should be first analyzed grammatically and rhetorically, to enable the pupil to coinj^reliend the full meaning. The reading, in general, will be characterized by me- dian stress, orotund quality, strong force, and slow movement.] Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star In his steep course ? So Ibng he seems to pause On thy bald, awful hdad, sovereign Blanc! The Arve and Arveiron at thy base Eave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful f(5rm, Eisest from forth thy silent sea of pines, How silently ! Around thee and above, Deep is the air and clcirh ; substantial black ; An ebon mass : methinks thou inercest it As with a wedge ! But when I look again. It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrme, Thy habitation from eternity. dread and silent 3Ibunt ! I gazed upon thee. Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vtXnish from my thought : entranced in prayer, 1 worshiped the Invisible alone. Yet, like some sweet, beguiling melody — So sweet, we know not we are listening to it — Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my ihbught, Yea, with my l\fe and life's own secret jby; 360 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Till the dilating soul — enrapt, transfused Into the mighty vision passing — th^re, As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven ! Awctke, my soul ! not only pdssive praise Thou owest ; not alone these swelling tears, Mute thanks, and secret ecstasy. Awake, Voice of sweet song ! Awake, my heart, awdcke ! Green vales and icy cViffs, all join my hymn. Thbu first and chief, sole sovereign of the vkle ! O, struggling with the darkness all the night, And visited all night by troops of stars. Or when they climb the sky or when they smh ; Companion of the morning-star at dawn. Thyself Earth's rosy stdr, and of the dawn Co-hdrald ; wikke, xohhe, and utter frhise ! Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in fearth ? Whb filled thy countenance with rosy light ? Wlib made thee parent of perpetual streams ? And ybu, ye five M'ild torrents, fiercely glad ! Who called you. forth from night and utter d^ath, From dark and icy caverns called you forth, Down those precipitous, black, jtigged rocks, For ever shuttered and the same for ever ? Whb gave you your invulnerable l\fe. Your strength, your spfeed, your fury, and your j6y, Unceasiny thunder and eternal fbani l And who commanded (and the silence came), " Here let the billows stiffen, and have rht ? " Ye ice-falls ! ye that from the mountain's brow Adown enormous ritvines slope anu\in — Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice. And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge ! Motionless torrents ! silent ciitaracts ! — Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the siun Clothe you with rainbows ? Who, with living fibwers SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 361 Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your ffeet ? — Gdd ! let the torrents, like a shout of nations Answer ! and let the ice-plains echo, G6d ! Gdd I sing ye meadow-streams with gladsome voice ! Ye pine-gTowes, with your soft and soul-like sounds ! And thei/, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow, And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God ! Ye living Jibwers that skirt the eternal frost ! Ye wild gbats sporting round the Ragles nest! Ye hagles, playmates of the mountain-stbrm 1 Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds ! Ye signs and wonders of the elements ! Utter forth " God ! " and fill the lillls with prhise. Once mbre, hoar mount ! with thy sky-pointing peak, Oft from whose feet the avalanche, unhdard, Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serine, Into the depth of clouds that veil thy breast — Thbu, too, again, stu2Jendons mbuntain ! thou. That, as I raise my h^ad, awhile bowed low In adoration, upward from thy base Slow-traveling with dim eyes suffused with tdars. Solemnly sdemest, like a vapory clbud, To rise before me — rise, oh, ever rise ; Rise, like a eloitd of \nce71se, from the fearth ! Thou hingly spirit throned among the hills. Thou dread arabdssador from earth to heaven, Great hierareh ! tell thou the silent sky, And tell the stars, and tell yon rising siin, Udrth, with her thousand voices, prdises Gdd ! 362 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 14 MOENING HYMN. [This x>i<^ce is cliaradcrizcd hy slow movement, median stress, and orotwid quality.] These are thi/ gldrious works, Parent of good, Almighty ! IViine this universal frhmc, Thus wondrous lair ; Thyself hbio wondrous then ! Uiispeakable, who sit'st above these heavens To us invisible, or dimly seen In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare Thy gdodness beyond thought, and power divine. Speak, ye who best can tell, ye sons of light. Angels; for ye behold him, and with songs And choral symphonies, day without night, Circle his throne rejoicing ; ye, in Heaven, On earth, join all ye creatures, to extol Him first, him last, liim midst, and vdthout hid. Fairest of stars, last in the train of night. If better thou belong not to the ddiun. Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn With thy bright circlet, pi^dise him in thy sphere, While ddy arises, that sweet hour of prime. Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and s6ul. Acknowledge him thy greater; sound his praise In thy eternal course, both when thou climUst, And when high ndon hast gained, and when thou fbXVst. Mbon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fly'st, With the fxed sthrs, fixed in their orb that flies; And ye five other wandering fires, that move lu mystic dance not without song, resound His praise, who out of ddrkness called up light. Air, and ye Elements, the eldest birth Of Nature's W(\mb, that in quaternion run, rcrpp.tual circle, multiform ; and mix And nourish dll things ; let your ceaseless change Vary to our great Mdkcr still new _^:>r^ise. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 36^ Ye mists and exhalations, tliat now rise From hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray, Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold. In honor to the wm'ld's great Author rise; Whether to deck with clouds the uncolored sky, Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers, Rising or falling, still advance his praise. His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blow, Breathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines, With every plant, in sign of worship, wave. Foimtains, and ye that warble as ye flow, Melddious miinnurs, warbling, tttne his praise. Join voices idl, ye living souls : ye hhrls. That singing, up to Mavcn's gate ascend, Bear on youi* wings and in your ndtes Ms prhise. 15. THANATOPSIS. [As a preliminary exercise, let pupils name all the phrases and clauses, and tell what each modifies ; also, call on them to parse the more difficult words. The reading of this poem is characterized by slow movement, median stress, and orotund quality.'] To him I who | in the love of Nature \ holds Communion | with her visible forms, she speaks | A vdrions language; for his gayer hours | She has a voice of gltdness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides | Into his darker musings with a mild | And healing symjjathg, that steals away Their sharpness | ere he is aware. AVhen thoughts | Of the last bitter hour | come like a blight | Over thy spirit, and sad images | Of the stern dgony, and shrdud, and pdll. And breathless darkness, and the narrow hduse. Make thee to shudder | and grow sick at heart, 364 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Go forth I under the open sky, and list To Nitture's teachinys ; while from all around — iSarth and her icdters, and the depths of dir — Comes I a still voice : — Yet a few days | and thee \ The all-beholding sun | shall see no more | In all his course ; nor yet [ in the cold ground, Where thy pale form | was laid with many tears, Nor in the embrace of bcean, shall exist | Thy Image, ^arth, that nourislud thee, shall cldiin Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again; And, lost each human trace, surrendering up Thine individual b^ing, shalt thou go ] To mix forever with tlie elements, To be a brother [ to the insensible rbch \ And to the sluggish clbd, which the rude swain | Turns with his share, and ti^eads upon. The oak Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold. Yet not to thine eternal resting-place 1 Shalt thou retire alone — nor could'st thou idish j Couch mdre magnificent. Thou shalt lie down | With patriarchs | of the infant wbiM — with kings. The 'powerful of the earth — the wise, the gbod. Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages pdst. All 1 in one mighty s^jpulcher. The hills, Eock-ribbed and ancient as the sun; the vdles, Stretching in pensive quietness between ; The venerable vjoods ; rivers, that move In majesty ; and the complaining hrboJcs, That make the meadows grkn; and, poured round dll Old beeans gray and melancholy waste — Are but the solemn decortctions \ dll \ Of the great tomh of md^n! The golden siun, Tlie pldncts, all tlie infinite host of Maven, Are shining on the sad abodes of death, Tlirough the still lapse of ^ges. All that triad The globe | are but a hhndful \ to the tribes SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 365 That slumber in its hbsom. Take the wings Of mbrning, and the Barcan desert pierce, Or lose thyself | in the continuous woods | Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound | Save bis own d^shings — yet | the dead | are thfere; And millions \ in those solitudes, since first The flight of years began, have laid them down ] In their last slfeep : the dead | reign there | alone ! So shalt thou rest ; and what if thou withdraw | Unheeded by the living, and no frihnd \ Take note of thy departure ! All that hrktthe \ Will share thy destiny. The gdy \ will laugh When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care | Plod on, and each one, as hefbre, will chase His favorite phantom; yet all these \ shall Rave Their mirth and their employments, and shall come [ And make their bed | with thee. As the long train Of ages glides away, the sons of mdn — The ydiith \ in life's green spring, and he who goes | In the full strength of years, mdtro7i and maid. The bowed with dge, the infant \ in the smiles | And beauty of its innocent age | cut off — Shall I one by one [ be gathered to thy side | By those | who in their turn | shall follow them. So live, that when thy summons | comes to join | The innumerable caravan | that moves | To that mysterious realm where each shall take His chamber ] in the silent halls of ddath. Thou go, not like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon ; but, sustained and soothed | By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave | Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down | to pleasant dreams. Bryant. 366 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 16. ELEGY WEITTEX IX A COUNTEY CHUECHYARD. 1. The curfeio \ tolls the knell | of parting ddiy ; The lowing Mrd \ winds slowly | o'er the Ua; The pldwman \ homeward ] plods his weary wdy, And leaves the wdiid \ to darkness | and to mh 2. Now fades | the glimmering Idbndscape | on the sight, And all the air \ a solemn stillness \ holds, Save where the beetle \ wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinkliugs | lull the distant fdlds ; 3. Save I that from yonder | ivy-mantled tower, The moping owl j does to the moon | complain | Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bower. Molest her ancient, solitary rfeign. 4. Beneath those rugged ^Ims, that yew-tree's sh4de. Where heaves the turf 1 in many a moldering hdap. Each I in his narrow cell | forever laid. The rude fdrefathers \ of the hdmlct \ sleep. 5. The breezy cdll \ of incense-breathing morn. The swdlloio \ twittering | from the straw-built shdd. The cock's shrill cldrion, or the echoing hdrn, No more | shall rouse thdra | from their lowly bed. 6. For them ] no m6re the blazing hearth \ shall burn, Or busy hdusewife \ ply her evening care ; No children \ run | to lisp their sire's return. Or climb liis hiecs I the envied Hss I to share. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 367 7. Oft did the harvest \ to their sickle \ yield, Their furrow \ oft | the stubborn glebe \ has broke ; How Jocund \ did they drive their team a-fifeld ! How bowed | the ivSods \ beneath their sturdy sh'bke ! Let not Ambition | mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny | obscure ; Nor Grandeur | hear | with a disdainful smile | The short \ and simple annals ] of the poor, 9. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of poiver, And all that beatUi/, all that wealth | e'er gave, Await I alike | the inevitable hour : The paths of glory \ lead | but to the grave. 10. 'Not you, ye proud, impute to these the fault. If Memory | o'er their tomb | no trophies raise, Where, through the long-drawn aisle [ and fretted vault. The pealing dntheiii \ swells the note [ of inaise. 11. Can storied lirn, or animated bust, Back to its mansion | call the fleeting breath? Can Honors voice | provoke the silent diist. Or Flditery soothe | the dull, cold ear ] of Death? 12. Perhaps in this neglected spot | is | laid ) Some heart \ once pregnant | with celestial fire — Hands \ that the rod of hnpire \ might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy \ the living lyre : 368 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 13. But Kndwledge \ to their eyes | her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll ; Chill Penury \ repressed their noble rage. And froze the genial current \ of the soul. 14 Full many a gem \ of purest ray serene | The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean \ bear; Full many a Jlbwer \ is born to blush unseen, And waste | its sweetness \ on the desert air. 15. Some village Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant | of his fields | withstood ; Some mute, inglorious Milton \ here may rest — Some Crbmwell, guiltless of his country's bl6od. 16. The applause [ of listening senates \ to command, The threats | of pain and ruin | to despise, To scatter plenty \ o'er a smiling land, And read their history | in a nation's Syes, 17. Their lot \forhddc; nor circumscribed | alone | Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined ; Forbade to wade | through slaughter | to a throne, And shut the gates | of mercy \ on manJcind ; 18. The struggling pangs | of conscious tri^th | to hide, To quench the blushes of ingenuous shdme, Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride | With incense I kindled at the Muse's flame. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 369 19. Far from the madding crowd's | ignoble strife, Their sober wishes \ never learned to stray ; Along the cool, sequestered vale | of life | They kept the noiseless tdnor | of their way. 20. Yet e'en these hones \ from insult to protect, Some frail memdrial \ still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes \ and shapeless sculpture \ decked, Implores the passing tribute \ of a sigh. 21. Their name, their y^ars, spelt by the unlettered Miise, The place of fame \ and elegy \ supply ; And many a holy text \ around she straws, That teach the rustic moralist \ to die. 22. For who, to dumb forgetfulness | a pr^y, This pleasing, anxious Ming \ e'er resigned, Left the warm precincts | of the cheerful day, Nor cast I one longing, lingering look \ behind? 23. On some fond hreast \ the parting sbul \ relies. Some pious drops \ tlie closing eye requires ; E'en from the tomb \ the voice of Nature | cries, E'en in our ashes \ live | their wonted fires. 24. For th^e, who, mindful of the unhonored ddad, Dost I in these lines | their artless tale | relate, If chance, by lonely contemplation ]^d, Some kindred S2nrit \ shall inquire thy fate — 24 370 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 25. Haply I some hoary-headed swain ] may say : " Oft have we seen him, at the peep of dawn, Brushing with hasty steps | the dews away, To meet the sicji \ upon the upland Idwn. 26. " There, at the foot | of yonder nodding bdech, That wreathes its old, fantastic roots so high. His listless length 1 at noontide | would he stretch. And pore upon the brook | that babbles by. 27. " Hard by yon vjood, now smiling | as in scorn. Muttering his wayward fancies, he Avould rove ; Now drooping, woful-wan, like one forlorn, Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless Ibve. 28. " One morn [ I missed him | on the 'customed hill. Along the hdath, and near his favorite tv6e ; Anbthcr \ came, nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the UUvn, nor at the tvood \ was he ; 29. " Tlie ndxt, with dirges due, in sad array. Slow I through the church-way path | we saw him borne Approach and rdad | (for thou canst rdad) | the lay | Graved on the stone | beneath yon aged thorn." THE EPITAPH. Here \ rests his Mad \ upon the lap of (^arth, A yoilth I to Fortune | and to Fame \ unhibimi ; Fair Science \ frowned not | on his Immble hirth, And Melanclwly \ marked him | for her bwn. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 371 31. Large \ was his hdunty, and his soul \ sinche ; Heaven \ did a recompense | as hargely send : He gave to misery — all he had — a tear; He gained from Heaven — 'twas all he wished — a, friend. 32. No further seek | his mlrits \ to disclose, Or draw his frailties \ from their dread abode (There | they alike | in trembling hope ] repose) — The Msom \ of his Father \ and his God. Thomas Gray. 17. DANIEL WEBSTER. 1. When life hath rim its largest round | Of toil and triumph, joy and woe, How brief | a storied page is found | To compass all its outward show ! 2. The world-tried sailor tires and droops; His flag is rdnt, his keel forgot; His farthest voyages | seem but loops | That float | from life's entangled knot. 3. But when within tlie narrow space | Some larger soul hath lived and wrought. Whose sight | was open to embrace | The boundless realms | of deed and thought,- 4. When, stricken by the freezing blast, A nation's living pillars fall, How rich | the storied page, how vast, A word, a whisper, can reci\ll ! 5. No medal | lifts its fretted face, Nor speaking marble | cheats your eye, 372 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. Yet, while these pictured lines I trdce, A living Image \ ]3asses by : 6. A roof I beneath the mountain pines ; The cloisters ] of a hill -girt plain ; The front of life's embattled lines ; A mound | beside the heaving main. 7. Th^se I are the scenes : a hbij appears ; Set life's round dial | in the sun, Count the swift arc | of seventy y^ars, His frame | is dust ; his task [ is d6ne. 8. Yet pause upon the noontide hour. Ere the declining sun | has laid | His bleaching rays | on manhood's power. And look upon the mighty shade. 9. No gloom I that stately shape can hide. No cliange | uncrown its brow ; behold ! Dark, calm, large-fronted, lightning-eyed, Earth has no double | from its mold. 10. Ere from the fields | by valor won | The battle-smoke | had rolled away, And bared the blood-red setting siin, His eyes | "were opened on the d;\y. 11. His hind ] was but a shelving strip | Black I with the strife | tliat made it fr^e; He lived | to see its banners dip | Tlieir fringes ] in the western sfea. 12. The boundless prciiries \ learned his n^me. His words | tlie mountain ecliocs knew, The nortliern brdezes | swept his fame | From icy lake ] to ^s'arm bayoii. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 372 13. In toil I he lived ; iu pdace | he died ; When life's full cycle was compMte, Put off his robes of power and pride. And laid them | at his Master's ffeet. 14. His rest | is by the storm-swept waves | Whom life's wild tempests | roughly tried, Whose heart | was like the streaming caves | Of ocean, throbbing at his side. 15. Death's cold white hand | is like the snow | Laid softly | on the furrowed hill — It hides the broken seams below, And leaves the summit | brighter still. 16. In vain the envious tongue upbraids ; His name | a nation's heart shall k^ep | Till morning's latest sunlight fades | On the blue tablet | of the dfeep ! holmes. 18. ST. AUGUSTINE'S LADDER Saint Augustine ! well hast thou said, That I of our vices | we can frame | A ladder, if we will but tread | Beneath our feet | each deed of shame ! All common things, each day's events, That I with the hour | begin and dud, Our pleasures I and our discontdnts, Are rounds | by which | we may ascend. The low desire, the base design, That makes another's virtues | Idss ; The revel | of the ruddy wine, And all occasions | of excess ; 374 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 4. The loDging | for ignoble things The strife | for triumph | more than truth ; The hardening of the heart, tliat brings | Irreverence | for the dreams of youth; 5. All thouglits of ill; all evil ddeds, That have their root \ in thoughts of ill; Whatever hinders | or impedes | The action | of the noble will; — 6. All these | must first j be trampled down | Beneath our feet, if we would gain | In the bright fields | of fair renown ) The right ] of eminent domain, 7. We have not wings, we can not soar; But we have feet | to scale and climb, By slow degrees, by more and more, The cloudy summits | of our time. 8. The distant mountains, that uprear | Their solid bastions | to the skies, Are crossed | by pathways, that appear | As we I to higher levels \ rise. 9. The heights j by great men | reached and kept | Were not attained | by sudden flight. But they, while their companions sldpt. Were toiling upward | in the night. 10. Standing | on what I too long | we bore ] With shoulders bent | and downcast eyes, We may discdrn — unseen lief(3re — A path I to higher destinies ; 11. Nor deem the irrevocaljle Past | As wholly wasted, wholly vain, If, rising on its wrecks, at last | To something nobler | we attain. Longfellow. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 375 19. EING OUT, WILD BELLS. [T/i/s extract should be read with radical and medicm stress, strong force, and strongly contrasted inflections. Let the class mark for em- phasis and inflection.'] 1. liing out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 2. Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going ; let him go ; Ring out the false, ring in the true. 3. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. 4. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife, Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. 5. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times ; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. 6. Ring out false pride, in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite ; Ring in the love of truth and right. Ring in the common love of good. 7. Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold, Ring out the thousand woes of old. Ring in the thousand years of peace. 376 SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 8. Eing in the valiant man and free. The larger heart, the kindlier hand ; Eing out tlie darkness of the land, Eing in the Christ that is to be. tenktson. 20. SUM]\rEE EAIX. [77m extract should he read with varying degrees of force, and with the radical stress, ranging from unim2}assioned to emotional. The last two stanzas afford scope for "imitative expression."] 1. Now on the hills I hear the thunder mutter; The wind is gathering in tlie west; The upturned leaves first whiten and flutter, Tlien droop to a fitful rest; Up from the stream witli sluggish flap Struggles the gull, and floats away; Nearer and nearer rolls the thunder-clap; We shall not see the sun go down to-day. Now leaps the wind on the sleepy marsh, And tramples the grass with terrified feet ; The startled river turns leaden and harsh — You can hear the quick heart of the tempest beat. 2. Look! look!— that livid flash! And instantly follows tlie rattling thunder, As if some cloud-crag, split asunder. Fell, splintering with a ruinous crash, On the earth, which crouches in silence under; And now a solid gray wall of rain Shuts off tlio landscape, mile by mile. For a breath's space I see the blue wood again, And, ere tlie next heart-beat, the wind-hurled pile. That seemed but now a league aloof, Bursts rattling over the sun-parched roof. SCHOOL ELOCUTION. 377 3. Acjainst the windows the storm comes dashing ; Through tattered foliage the hail tears crashing; The blue lightning flashes ; The rapid hail clashes ; The white waves are tumbling; And, in one baffled roar, Like the toothless sea mumbling A rock-bristled shore, The thunder is rumbling, And crashing, and crumbling — Will silence return never more ? lowell. 21. HYMN TO THE NOETH STAR [The reading of this poem will be characterized by sloio movement, median stress, orotund quality, and middle key.'\ 1. The sad and solemn night Hath yet her multitude | of cheerful fires ; The glorious host of light | Walk the dark atmosphere [ till she rcM?*-LH-Toung Hesearch Library PN4111 .S97s 1884 y L 009 605 314 5 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 235 424 7 §^M^M^i I Kf 1 >> Si^ 1