fyxmll UttivOTitg pitatJg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg M. Sage 1891 M.n£A.±n gtobii3 Cornell University Library arV14459 Fenno's science of speech: 3 1924 031 386 810 olin.anx Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924031 38681 FENNO'S SCIENCE OF SPEECH A condensed and comprehensive treatise on the culture of Body, Mind and Voice, to be used in connection with THE ART OF RENDERING Comprising Chart of Elocution, Laws of Voice and Action, Artic- ulation, Charts and Illustrations. Designed to be used as a text-book in the class-room, and for private study as well as by readers and speakers generally, By FRANK H. FENNO, A M.. F.S.Sc. Teacher Lecturer, and AiJthor of "Fenno's Elocution," "Lectures on Elocution", etc.. Compiler of "Fenno's Favorites" Revised and Enlarged by MRS. FRANK H. FENNO, B. O. CHICAGO EMERSON W. FENNO, PnausHEB 1912 3 Copyright 1912 Bt Mes. Feank H. Fenno. PREFACE. The following work, taught in connection with the" Art of Rendering, " has been for a number of years given to pupils in notes, and is now published for the first time. The principles presented in the two books are not vain experiments, for results are manifest in the successful pupils who are filling places as teachers, preachers, readers, lectur. ers and entertainers. No claim is made to present some wonderful, new and original system, but both new and old that have been tested and found most helpful from Shoemaker, Emerson, Curry, Brown, Murdoch, Eush, Austin, Plumptre, Delsarte and others, are the sources from which this system is formed. In " The Science of Speech "and" The Art of Render- ing " are given principles in the simplest, most concentrated form, which might easily be expanded into chapters. The statements are, as far as possible, shorn of philosophic argu- ment, though there is abundant proof for their truthfulness. On account of brevity and so that the principles may be easily understood, no attention has been given to a fine style but, on thecontrary,thematter has been treated with homely language and illustrations, with much given in outline, some thoughts even repeated. The " Laws " were arranged especially for a short course at a Chautauqua Summer School. They have since been found useful to busy people. iv PREFACE In this work, which is the result of the author's careful investigations during many years, the unchangeable Laws of Voice and Action are developed step by step, formulated and taught. In this Natural Scientific Method of Voice Culture, Gesture, Enunciation, and Modulation the prin- ciple is " Not imitation, but strict conformity to the Laws of Speech, and these laws the only basis of criticism. " In thus training the speaking voice, the Keynote is Emo- tion — Adaptation. This New Method, evolved out of old and new truth, is with confidence presented to the attention of all desirous of improving their vocal powers. It constitutes what might almost be termed an exact Science of Speech, based upon the facts : 1, that human utterance depends upon immutable laws and is not subject to the caprice of every speaker ; 2, that imitation is not the faculty through which we should acquire knowledge of reading and speaking ; and 3, that every person has as distinct an individuality of speech as of feature that should be carefully preserved, grafting upon it excellencies and pruning it of faults. It is an eminently practical system, with no abstruse philosophy and fanciful , reasoning. " The Science of Speech " may be used for lessons one day a week in regular daily class «rork, in connection with the Steps in Bendering and other drill found in " The Art of Rendering^ which should be taken up on the other four lesson days ; or the two works may be adapted to suit the time for lessons in near this proportion. The following Chart of Elocution presents a systematic outline of the whole subject and gives an intelligent com. prehension of the order of the Laws of Voice and Action. Mk8. Fbank H. Fenno. CmcAQo, III. March 19th, 1912. CONTENTS Faob I. Law of Source 1 II. Law of Thought Manifestation . 2 III. Law of Dual Form 3 IV. Law of Individuality .... 4 V. Law of Voice Production ... 9 VI. Law of Voice 9 VII. Law of Voice Culture .... 9 VIII. Law of Mechanical to Artistic . . 10 IX. Law of Resonance 10 X. Law of Organs 11 XI. Law of Speech 12 XII. Law of Forms of Speech ... 19 XIII. Law of Emotional Reading . . 19 XIV. Law of Articulation 20 XV. Law of Sounds 20 XVI. Law of Pronunciation .... 25 XVII. Law of Mental Grasp .... 25 XVIII. Law of Modulation 25 XIX. Law of Voice Quality .... 25 XX. Law of Simple Pure 26 XXI. Law of Orotund 28 XXII. Law of Aspirate 29 XXIII. Law of Pectoral 30 XXIV. Law of Guttural 31 XXV. Law of Falsetto 32 XXVI. Law of Pitch 33 XXVII. Law of Slide 41 XXVIII. Law of Rising Slides .... 45 XXIX. Law of Falling Slides .... 53 XXX. Law of Circumflex 66 XXXI. Law of Conversational Slides . . 72 XXXII. Law of Cadence . . . .' . .73 XXXIII. Law of Force 74 V vi CONTENTS Faob XXXIV. Law of Heavy Force .... 74 XXXV. Law of Gentle Force .... 76 XXXVI. Law of Form 77 XXXVII. Law of Effusive Form .... 77 XXXVIII. Law of Expulsive Form ... 78 XXXIX. Law of Explosive Form ... 78 XL. Law of Stress 79 XLI. Law of Initial Stress .... 79 XLII. Law of Final Stress 80 XLIII. Law of Median Stress .... 81 XLIV. Law of Compound Stress ... 82 XLV. Law of Thorough Stress ... 84 XLVI. Law of Tremulous Stress ... 85 XLVII. Law of Time 88 XLVIII. Law of Quantity 88 XLIX. Law of Poetic Pause .... 89 L. Law of Rhetorical Pauses ... 90 LI. Law of Grammatical Pauses . . 91 LII. Law of Style 92 LIII. Law of Conversational Style . . 92 LIV. Law of Oratorical Style . . .104 LV. Law of Dramatic Style . .111 LVI. Law of Analysis 128 LVII. Law of Emphasis 128 LVIII. Law of Grouping 128 LIX. Law of Imitative Modulation . . 129 LX. Law of Economy 129 LXI. Law of Transition 130 LXII. Law of Climax 132 LXIII. Law of Repose 132 LXIV. Law of Responsiveness .... 132 LXV. Law of Fervor 133 LXVI. Law of Relation of Values . . . 134 LXVII. Law of Proper Atmosphere . . 134 LXVIII. Law of Magnanimity .... 134 LXIX. Law of Animation 134 LXX. Law of Naturalness and Spontaneity 134 LXXI. Law of Directness 135 LXXII. Law of Imagination 135 LXXIII. Law of Personation 135 CONTENTS vii Fagb LXXIV. Law of Gesture 136 LXXV. Law of Purpose . . ^ . . . 136 LXXVI. Law of Manner ...... 137 LXXVII. Law of Gesture Quality . . .138 LXXVIII. Law of Position 138 LXXIX. Law of Passive Position . . . 138 LXXX. Law of Active Position . . . .138 LXXXI. Law of Active Advanced Position . 138 LXXXII. Law of Retired Position . . .139 LXXXIII. Law of the Feet 139 LXXXIV. Law of the Head 139 LXXXV. Law of Facial Expression . . .140 LXXXVI. Law of the Hands 140 LXXXVII Law of the Supine Hand . . .141 LXXXVIIL Law of the Prone Hand . . .141 LXXXIX. Law of the Vertical Hand . . .142 XC. Law of the Pointing Hand . . . 142 XCL Law of the Clenched Hand . . 143 XCII. Law of Movements 143 XCIII. Law of Arms 144 XCIV. Law of Front Direction . . .145 XCV. Law of Oblique Direction . . . 145 XCVI. Law of Lateral Direction . . . 145 XCVII. Law of Backward Direction . . 145 XCVIII. Law of Horizontal Direction . . 146 XCIX. Law of Descending 146 C. Law of Ascending 146 CI. Law of Double Gestures . , . 146 CII. Law of Special Gestures . . . 146 CHI. Law of Straight and Curved Lines . 147 CIV. Law of Introductory Movements . 147 CV. Law of Velocity 147 CVI. Law of Sequence 148 CVII. Law of Emotions 148 CVIII. Law of Rhythm 149 CIX. Law of Poise or Subjugation . . 151 ex. Law of Sympathy 152 CXL Law of Art Periods 153 CXII. Law of Application 153 LAWS o^ VOICE & ACTION WITH ILLUSTEATIONS AND STUDIES FOR PRACTICE. /. Law of iiource. — Tracing back all human expression, the starting point in the study of Speech is God himself ; Man, the mouthpiece ; Truth, the theme ; and God, the author. The thoughtful student will find the Law of Source is " Multum in Parvo. " In it is a seed-thought which, if carefully planted in the mind and heart, will unfold in the life yielding graces of speech which seem to be gifts to only the chosen few. A consciousness of being in the light of the Source of Expression ofEers a safeguard against two displeasing ex- tremes : on the one hand, egotism, too great self confidence ; on the other hand, timidity and self abasement. Standing in this light one may have instead, poise, dignity and ease of bearing. While our own will has much to do with our thoughts and what we are, yet it is possible for us to become passive and under the control of a higher will than our own so in this way one may receive most helpful thoughts and noble, poised feelings. The inspired men do not belong to Bible times alone. Wonderful light is given to the men and women of this Twentieth Century who learn to Zisfeji and to eajpcef messages, responding to what is received. The light is pouring upon us. We need to be aware of this and open the windows of our minds and hearts, too long closed to the fact, and let the truth shine in. We may know it when it comes for this is the truth that " shall make you free. " 2 SCIENCE OF SPEECH There are wide differences in the conditions of natures and beings, treated in another place. As in matter, so in spirit is the principle : the cleakee and moee teanspab- ENT THE IPEDIUM, THE MOEE PERFECTLY WILL IT EEFLECT THE TETJTH. To start with, let the mind take its proper attitude, with se^ hidden behind the thought. The thought is worthy. Come out from the limitation that boasts " 1 did it, " or the distrust of self that sajs " I cannot do it. " Learn to stand in the source of light and to reflect light, not self. We find the law of Source of Expression illustrated in the familiar picture, St. Cecelia by Naujok. Note how the artist has placed his ideal character in a flood of light with uplifted, attentive face, listening to the music pouring upon her and the keys in flowery gifts by angelic hands. The musician so inspired responds to the message simply as it is given. There is no appearance of effort, no thought of self, or of how to perform the task, or what the listener may think. With concentrated attention she seems a transpar- ent, responsive medium vibrant with divine music. //. Law of Thous:ht Manifestation. — Thought and feeling are expressed in but three ways : Word, Voice, and Gesture. Elocution does not include written expres- sion. The three ways of manifesting thought are direct language of the threefold nature : Physical, Mental, and Emotive. We find the Word is the language of the Mental side. The Voice simply, as in a call or cry, is the language of the Physical nature. The Gesture, though made with the muscles and the physical body, yet Gesture is the language of the Emotive nature. We know an infant's first language is voice, second, THOUGHT MANIFESTATION 3 gesture when it shows its feelings by movements of its body. Its third language is the word. As it begins to think it learns to speak ; thus coming into the three ways o£ manifesting thought and feeling. ///. Law of Dual Form. — Speech — Elocution — is both a Science and an Art : a Science because based upon immutable principles : an Art from the fact that intelligent, continued practice leads to artistic excellence in its use ; and becaicse, like Music, Painting, and Poetry, its object is to touch the heart by the expression of the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Note 1. — Man's laws are artificial and arbitrary, made to govern a particular case or similar cases included in one category ; but natural laws are general in their ap- plication, and are discovered only by observation ; then if correctly formulated, they represent the unerring, guiding j)rinciples of the world of matter and of spirit. Hence, by carefully observing the conditions, tendencies and effects of vocal effort, we may be able to formulate a code of Laws of universal application, then, if such laws are rightly deduced from the phenomena of utterance and truthfully stated, they are in no sense artificial and arbitrary, but the infallible laws of nature by which she permits man to give expres- sion to his thoughts and feelings. Note 2. — The player by ear can never execute a piece of music, outside his own composition, that he has not previously listened to, while the player by note has a whole world of harmony at command. So the student of Elocu- tion who applies principles has within his reach a wealth of expression denied him who merely imitates his teacher's tone and manner. The latter not only copies the bad as well as the good, but will never excel that which he imitates. Imitcdion is not EduetAn. 4 SCIENCE OF SPEECH IV.— Law of Individuality.— Every person owns a distinct individuality of speech that should be care- fully preserved, grafting upon it excellencies and prun- ing it of faults. Note 1. — As you would not expect all individuals to look alike, neither ask them to read or speak alike except in so far that they observe all the laws of sf)eecli. Peinciple: — Not imitation, but strict conform- ity TO THE LAWS OP SPEECH AND ACTION AND THESE LAWS THE ONLY BASIS OF CRITICISM. The student is asked to look back of the fact that no two persons are alike for the carae and try to find the reasons why no two persons should speak alike or act alike. All are aware of the truth that no two persons are alike, even though one may so closely resemble another as to be mistakj en for him, even so, it is soon discovered that the disposition or something in the inner life is so different the outer re- semblance is soon lost. There are standards for testing and weighing nearly every material thing, and some elements almost too mysterious to be called material, but the real man seems to have escaped all standards of measurement. We know we cannot fix a standard by the coat he wears, nor by his intellectual attain- ments, nor by the money he stands for, nor even by his social or his political standing. The real man eludes you. In nature all forms of life are distinctly classified from the lowest to the highest. First comes inorganic life ; next vegetable; animal; highest is human life. Let us consider one of the elements entering into the steps of advancement from one form of life to the next higher. This important element is Flexibility, Plasticity, Freedom. The inorganic INDIVIDUALITY 6 life is the lowest in the scale, fixed and rigid ; next comes the vegetable with its variety and ever changing beauty ; next comes the animal life from the lowest forms up to that with almost human intelligence. Crowning all other forms of life is man, uniting all in one three forms of life ; the physical, the mental and the emotive. The three kinds of life in man are influenced as are the lower forms, in that they rise in the scale of value by this same condition — Flex- ibility, Plasticity, Freedom. The brain receives on its folds impressions that it retains. We may say the mind has been filled with impressions (educated) that once was blank, un- taught, and because of the convolutions filled with imprints of thought it is transformed into a mind of power. When we attempt to study the highest side of human life, the emotive or spiritual we enter into the realm of the mystical. So plastic and susceptible is this side of the life we know of nothing to which it may be compared, It is like a breath, a vapor, a cloud. A wave tossed by a gentle breeze is not so easily moved as the human spirit. We call this side of life emotive because it is so impressionable and easily moved. A person in a tranquil, happy mood may receive word of sudden disaster and in less time than it takes to tell it, the whole being will be thrown into agitation. There are not only what might be called the fleeting, emotions, like the light waves on the surface of the water when the wind plays gently upon it but there are beside the profound feelings reaching to the very depths, stirring the whole being. Beside these there are the deep passions, like the troubled sea when it cannot rest but casts up mire and dirt. It would seem, as on the storm lashed sea, tranquility could never again be restored. The storm passes, the sea becomes calm. In the same mysterious way the emotive nature is acted upon by influences quite as powerful as the storm and may become tranquil in a short period of time. 6 SCIENCE OF SPEECH So great is the force of the impressions upon this — the most sensitive of all life — the Emotive or Spiritual, we at last begin to realize that the health and well-being of the individual is ruled largely by these impressions. When we find out, too, how aperson/eefe about a thing — not so much what he thinks — when the feeling hidden in the innermost chambers is discovered, there is no more to be said. The conclusion of the whole matter is reached and we say " he was angry, " or " he was pleased. " Two persons may solve a mathematical problem in entirely different ways, yet this mental difference is not considered a matter of importance ; but if one person so differs in his feelings from another as to hate what the other loves, this is a difference of wider meaning, for it has to do with the largest and most essential part of life. Psychologists have made careful investigations and have discovered wonderful laws of mind from the action of the brain with its faculties of perception, memory, imagination, reason, etc. We are beginning to realize that this realm we call the Emotive is a great unexplored field waiting to yield the richest treasures of all to those who can find out the laws of the affectional, passional, ethical, mystical, spiritual life. When the laws governing the Emotive or Spiritual are as well accepted and applied as those laws of the Mental, then the race will doubtless be freed from many limitations. Though man stands as a representative of the highest form of life on earth, there is a wide difference in being as one is compared with another. However wide this may be still the rule of Flexibility holds good. The flexible Body is in a better condition to perform all its functions than the cramped, rigid body. The plastic Mind in the pupil is far more teachable than the mind that defies the efforts of the teacher. The plastic Soul made so by obedience to the Divine EXPERIENCE 7 will, and with feelings of good will toward those around it, is far more susceptible and responsive than a soul filled with willfulness and pride, and feelings of disregard for his fellows. This comparison may be carried out in still another way : One side of the nature in the individual may be out of har- mony with the other two. There may be a flexible, teachable mind with a stiff, unresponsive body ; there may be a teach- able, open mind with a stiff, selfish, unresponsive soul. Har- mony and all-round perfection and balance of the three na- tures should be the aim. Many a life is " all out of sorts " because of this lack of poise, and fails to find the cause, yet may know after harmony is once established. While each nature may be trained separately and apart from the others, yet in action there is such a close relation, such a dependence of one upon the others, that what moves one has a reflex influence on the other two. The training farthest reaching is that given to the ruler of the other two, the spirit. In brief : harmony or poise is best secured for the body, mind and spirit by first attun- ing the inner life in harmony with the Infinite. In other words : seek to be commanded by the All-wise, cultivate the benevolent feelings, love of human welfare, sympathy, and appreciation. These feelings take rigidity out of the mind and body so they may receive the best and attain to the best. Wide differences exist in the Physical, Mental, and Emotive natures, yet that culture that gives Flexibility is an advantage to the three natures in all persons. The student is now asked to consider another important cause for differences in individuals. There are impressions being stamped continually on this highly sensitive recorder, the threefold human life, daily, from the cradle to the grave. Let us call these impressions Experiences. Think for a moment of a being at the very first, not 8 SCIENCE OF SPEECH quite like any other, who has been receiving messages by the way of the eye, the ear, through all the five senses, and through that mysterious inner sense that brings us in touch with influences we can feel but cannot understand. Never for an hour is it possible for two persons to have exactly the same experiences. Even twins brought up to- gether in the same home are not subjected to the same im- pressions even for a day. The difference widens in school. Still more marked grows the dissimilarity in business and society. Day after day makes the experience more complex and varied. The life within is so crossed and recrossed that a word standing for any common object does not mean just exactly the same to them both. The student who follows up the line of thought barely hinted here will discover abundant reason for wide and marked differences in individuals. Let each person be fit and content to express his true self. Should you happen to be an oak, try to be aa grand an oak as possible. Should you be a heart's-ease, fill as perfectly as possible the place you occupy with beauty and fragrance. Let not the peach tree fret itself because it does not bear grapes and so fail to bear peaches. It is most unprofitable and embarrassing in people when they try to imitate and to be other than their own selves. Learn to respect your own individuality. It is God given and respected by Him. Enrich your experience by accumulating such a wealth of noble thought and feeling as to possess a millionaire person- ality. Guard most jealously all the avenues of impression, especially the eyes, the ears, the heart. Keep the feelings poised and pure. Set a watch lest a foe touch and mar the sensitive recording plate within, for the impressions, foul or fair, made on this record are indelible. In this is no favor. Each one must ever keep what he has accumulated. There is encouragement for " the poorest is heir to the best. " VOICE .PRODUCTION 9 V. Law of Voice Production .- Speech is the joint production of the physical, the mental and the moral man, voice being purely physical, intelligent articula- tion and modulation, the result of mental conception and effort, while all higher spiritual and magnetic effects of speech emanate from the moral. Note.- "Moral" includes Emotional nature . The Physical body produces mechanical tone ; the Intellectual governs modulation ; the emotional adds to calm reasoning, but without the moral the highest emotions are unknown; the voice cannot take on its noblest character, and speech falls far short of its divinity . VI. Law of Voice.— The sounds of the voice should be under perfect command and the tones full and pleasing. Note — Voice is the mechanical action of certain organs of the body . Breath from the lungs is forced through the windpipe and over the vocal cords, the tone thus being modified by the cavities of the mouth and nose. VII. Law of Voice Culture .— Nature gives body, mind and voice, but highest results from each are se- cured only through proper training of each, and the consequent unfolding of latent powers . Culture of the voice should lead to first, its symmetrical development and second, to proper use of the vocal organs . Note 1 ." Voice being the principal medium for the conveyance of thought between man and man it should receive special attention that it may perform its duty in the best manner . Note 2 .- Voice culture should consist in 1. A study of the organs. 2. Breathing exercises. 10 SCIENCE OF SPEECH a. Breoih wfor a twofold purpose, to sustain life and to furnish a means of speech . b . We s/umld breathe pure air only . c . ff^e should aeguire the habit of deep breaking, both as a maUer of health and to procure adequate means and power of spetch . 3. Vocal exercises which give a. STBENGTH. b. PURITY. C. COMPASS, d. KE80NANCE . e. AQBEBABLENESS . f. FLEXIBILITY, g. BRILLIANCY. 4. Physical exercises which give a. HEALTH, b. STRENGTH. O. GKACB . d. IMPROVED TONES . VIII. Law of Mechanical to Artistic, or General Law of Culture .— All culture whether of body, mind or voice is a growth from the crude to the refined, and all drill must be in the order of 1. Mechanical. 2. Intellectual. 3. Artistic. Note .- Upon this law must be based all the prac- tical work in the study of expression or rendering. IX. Law of Resonance .— A high pitched head tone being painful to both speaker and hearer, a chest tone not sufficiently agreeable and a throat tone of in- adequate volume '> it is found that by employing Chest Resonance, we gain both Ease in use and Character in tone. Note 1 .— Chest resonance may be described as a pure sound formed in the throat and allowed to rever- berate throughout the trachea and bronchial tubes ; the chest cavity serving as a resonance box to amplify and mellow the tone . Note 2— The sound is always formed by the vocal cords in the throat; if confined to that locality VOICE ORGANS 11 and denied resonance, it is called a throat tone ; if the stream of sound be directed upward it appears to come from the head, a head tone ; if apparently downward, its location is referred to the chest, a chest tone . Examples — Head tone, e . as in knee . Throat tone, A. as in ah. Chest tone, A . as in awe . As the nares is the centre of the voice, resonance should be secured at this point before chest resonance . X. Law of Organs .— The voice is produced by active and reverberatory vocal organs, and the tones thus formed are modified by the articulatory organs or organs of speech . Note .- The vocal organs are the following :— ORGANS OF VOICE . I. MOTIVE OBGANS . 1 .Diaphragm . 2 . Abdominal muscles. 3. Inter- costal muscles . 4 . Clavicular muscles . n. RETENTIVE ORGAN . Lungs. III . CONVEYANT ORGAN . Trachea . IV. REVERBERATORY ORGANS. 1 . Larynx . 2. Pharynx . 3 . Trachea .4. Mouth. ORGANS OP SPEECH . I. ARTICULATORY ORGANS. 1. Tongue . 2 . Lips . 3 . Palate . 4 . Teeth . 12 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XL Law of Speech — Speech is the vocal utter- ance of thought and the great medium of communi- cation between man and man . By it we can convey any thought of which the mind is capable, and express the entire language of the heart. With capabilities almost infinite, and being the special gift of God to his chosen creatures, it becomes divine. Note. This is the common, restricted use of the word speech ; in its broadest sense it may include both voice and action . " God collected and resumed in man The firmaments, the strata, and the lights, Fish, fowl, and beast, and insect,- All their trains Of various life caught back upon his arm, Beorganized and constructed man. The microcosm, the adding up of works ." Mn. Browning. It has been said, we live in one world and bear another on our shoulders . " Behold the microcosm 1" When breathed upon and given the divine gift of Speech we may say, " Behold the macrocosm 1" Given this little globe we carry on our shoulders, with the powers of ar- ticulate speech our reach is enlarged into a greater realm, even outside the material world, into that of thought and feeling, reaching unto the spiritual . All things of the material world are condensed into words . All our hidden thoughts and feelings, even our communications with the Divine Being, all these things are taken up and transformed, then breathed out in words touching those around us with marvelous power for weal SPEECH 13 or woe , So of speech we may say ; it Is " the adding up of works. ' ' The study of the history and growth of language is of profound interest . In F. Max MuUer's lectures on the "Science of Language,"he says, "Without language thought could advance but little ." There is an intimate relation between the thought and the word . As we speak, we think ; as we think, we speak. In the child the ability to speak and the ability to think advance together . Thus it continues on in after life . A speech defect is also an ear defect, back of which often lies a thought defect . We find with the cure of the speech defect the mind is also improved . The limit- ed child rejoices in freedom from its limitations and enters into a new and better atmosphere of life . Not the child alone but a person of any age often may have a defect of speech easily cured . Some forms of deafness may be treat- ed by attention to the speech, being careful to pronounce correctly all the elementary sounds, giving special drill on the sounds to which the ear is deaf . The words we speak affect our feelings as well as bur thoughts in a decided and powerful way. Much that we earnestly covet of good in every day life may be turned our way by observing some of the laws governing speech aside from those of Spelling and Grammar . Says James of the tongue, "Therewith bless we God and therewith curse we men ." Even more is true , for therewith we bless ourselves or curse ourselves. The Book which is also wonderfully scientific says, "Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment ." Even more is true for we must account to ourselves immediately . We all know that the words we speak do not return to ns void, as they instantly rebound to their source . 14 SCIENCE OF SPEECH It would seem that the thought expressed in words gives a direct oonnection with some unseen, wireless current of like character, of the same kind of spirit and vibration as that sent out, which responds instantly . If the words be glad ; ringing back to our own soul comes the echo . If the words be bitter, our whole being is shriveled with the mesmge that comes back. Go through the whole gamut of thoughts and feelings, whatever key we sound the vi- bration rings true within ourselves . We can well afEord to " Clothe worthy thoughts in chaste, and elegant lan- guage," if for no other reason than for the sure benefits to ourselves . An aid in our efforts to acquire the use of good language is good society, especially the society of those who not only bring us out but of those who bring out of us the best there is in us . Another aid is the study of good books . Familiarity with the language of the best authors, the best literature, is an aid in the use of good language. Out of the great variety of talkers let us consider the petty as contrasted with the great. There are those who talk right on regardless of an ear to listen . Thoughtless chatter is a waste of energy. He who gives nothing through his speech receives in the same proportion . Speech in a wider sense, as used by the public speaker, has stiU another and larger phase . In this form of speeeh the thought and language are magnified . The ability to think on the feet calls into action all the energy and greatest intensity of thought possible . Few comparatively are possessed with this rare ability, and they by it are the rulers of men . Where great problems requir- ing the best thought of many minds fused together for so- lution ;for example, great political questions involving the welfare of a nation, are settled by the men who are able to PUBLIC SPEAKING 15 think on their feet and take advantage of sitaations as they develop. The ability to think on the feet is not as some may suppose a gift of the goda, but is cultivated and grown by slow degrees. In tracing the history of these giants of power, we find that some of them made their first appearance in a very humble way ; often it has taken place in some country schoolhouse on Friday afternoon, when they"spoke a piece** and first experienced a thrill of inspiration for their bash- ful efforts . Following them, we find they appear again and later they learn to take advantage of the opportunities for public speaking. Original matter comes in play for literary societies and debates. Each effort gives additional ability and courage, till the world feels the influence of men who can not only speak in public but think in public and sway the minds of assemblages of men . Says Macintosh in his " White Sunlight of Potent Words," "Of speech, the might and magic of the spok- en soul, not scripture, the written soul - Speech, hot, glow- ing, fresh born, fire-kindling speech, that indeed is more than kingly power ; the tongue is the glory of man . " Says Hackel, "Nothing can have transformed and en- nobled the faculties' of the brain of man so much as the acquisition of language . " " If a man offend not in word the same is a perfect man ." " The tongue of man is a sacred organ . Man, himself is definable in Philosophy as an 'Incarnate word .' The word not there, you have no man there either, but a Phan- tasma instead ." While "speech is silver and silence golden," "Silence may be ignorance, unreadiness, cowardice, falsehood, trea- son, base consent to -what is evil." The Old Testament has a triple idea of the highest manhood; Prophet, in other words. Orator, Priest and King. 16 SCIENCE OF SPEECH , The greatest was the Prophet . The King and Priest must be a Prophet as well . Still is it true at the present time, the leaders of men, the ministers of sacred things, must have the power to per- suade, to command ; must have the tongue of a Prophet . "It appears I that your tongue, which an old Hebrew poet says is the best member you have, is potentially not only an artist, 4)ut a philosopher and a scientist and a phi- lanthropist, a reformer and a nurse, and a ward visitor - indeed, a kind of whole Bureau of Labor and of Charities at once . " Says P . Max MuUer : " That there is in us an animal, ay, a bestial nature, has never been denied ; to deny it would take away the very foundation of psychology and ethics . We cannot be reminded too often that all the materials of our knowledge we share with the animals j that, like them, we begin with sensuous impressions, and then, like ourselves, and like ourselves only, we proceed to the general, the ideal, and the eternal. We cannot too often be reminded that we are like the beasts of the field, but that like ourselves and like ourselves only we can rise superior to our bestial self and strive after what isunselfish, good, and Godlike. The wing with which we soar above the sensuous was called by men of old the ogot; the wing with which we soar above the sensual was called by good men of old daiminion. Let us take continual care, especially within the precincts of the temple of Science, lest by abusing the gift of Speech, or doing violence to the voice of conscience, we soil the two wings of our soul, and fall back through our own fault to the dread level of the gorilla ." Says Henry WardBeecher of the Tongue, "When St . James says, ' If a man ofEend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body' THE TONGUE 17 one is at first surprised . It would seem to place the sum of virtue in a very little thing . But a larger experience of life would change our opinion . The tongue is the ex- ponent of the soul . It is the flame which it issues, as the lightning is the tongue of the clouds. It is the sword of anger, the club of brutal rage, the sting of envy . It is the soul's right hand, by which it strikes with wasting power • On the other hand, the tongue is the soul's voice of mercy ; the string on which its love vibrates as music ; the pencil with which it fashions its fairest pictures ; the almoner of its gifts; the messenger of its bounties! By speech a man may touch human life within and without . No sceptre has such power in a king's hand as the soul hath in a ready tongue ; which also has this ad- vantage, that well uttered words never die, but go sound- ing on to the end of the world, not lost when seemingly silent, but rising and falling between the generations of men, as ships rise and fall between the waves, hidden at times, but not sunken . A fit speech is like a sweet and favorite tune . Once struck out it may be sung or play- ed forever . It flies from man to man and makes its nest in the heart as birds do in trees . This is remarkably exemplified in maxims and proverbs. A generation of men by their experience prove some moral truth, and all know it as a matter of consciousness . By and by some happy man puts the truth into words, and ten thousand people say he got that from me ; for a proverb is a child born from ten thousand parents. Afterwards the proverb has the liberty of the world. A good proverb wears a crown and defies revolution or dethronement . It walks up and down the earth an in- visible knight-errant helping the needy . A man might frame and set loose a star to roll in its orbit, and yet not have done so memorable a thing before God as he who 18 SCIENCE OF SPEECH lets go a golden-orbed Bpeech to roll on through the gen- erations of time . The tongue may be likened to an organ, which, though but one instrument, has within it an array of different pipes and stops, and discourses in innumerable combina- tions . If one man sits before it not skilled to control its powers, he shall make it but a monstrous jargon . But when one comes who knows its ways, and has control of its powers, then it becomes a mountain of melody, and another might well think he heard the city of God at the hour of its singing . The tongue is the key-board of the soul ; but it makes a world of difference who sits to play upon it . It is sweeter than honey; it is bitterer than gall. It is a bahn and consolation; it is sharper than a serpent's tootL It is a wand that touches with hope and lifts us up; it is a mace that beats us down, and leaves us wounded up- on the ground . One trumpet, but how different the blasts blown upon it, by love, by joy, by humility, or by hatred, pride> anger I A heart that is full of goodness, that loves and pities, that yearns to invest the richest of its mercy in the souls of those that need it — how sweet a tongue hath such a heart ! A flute sounding in the wood, in the stillness of evening,and rising up among the leaves that are not stirred by the moonlight above, or by those murmuring sounds beneath ; a clock, that sighs at half-hours, and at the full hours beats the silver bell so gently, that we know not whence the sound comes, unless it falls through the air from heaven, with sounds as sweet as dewdrops make, fall- ing upon flowers ; a bird whom perfumes have intoxicated, sleepmg in a blossomed tree, so that it speaks in its sleep with a note so soft that sound and sleep strive together, and neither conquers, but the sound rocks itself on the bosom of Bleep, each charming the other; a brook that FORMS OF SPEECH 19 brings down the greetings of the mountains to the meadows and sings a serenade all the way to the faces that watch themselves in its brightness;- these, and a hundred like figures, the imagination brings to liken thereunto the charms of a tongue which love plays upon . Even its silence is beautiful . Under a green tree we see the stream so clear that nothing is hidden to the bot- tom . We cast in round, white pebbles to hear them plash, and to see the crystal-eyed fish run in and sail out again . So there are some whose speaking is like the fall of jas- per stones upon the silent river, and whose stillness follows speech as silent fish that move like dreams beneath the un- troubled water ! It was in some such dreaming mood, me- thinks. Old Solomon spoke, 'A wholesome tongue is a tree of life . ' And what fruit grows thereon he afterwards says, 'A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in bas- kets of silver .' " XII. Law of Forms of Speech — Conversation, Reading and Public Speaking constitute distinct forms of speech, in all three of which a natural delivery should be employed. Note .- The key to natural delivery, except in Personation, is the manner in which you, with no wrong habits of utterance, would express the same language, if original with yourself and used under similar circum- stances . XIII. Law of Emotional Reading.— In reading, always convey with the thcught the impression the thought should make upon you and the feeling it should awaken . Note 1.- Since the highest aim in reading or speaking is to reproduce in your hearer's minds the same 20 SCIENCE OF SPEECH knowledge and state of feeling contained in your own, it follows that to do this successfully you must 1 . Have a clear eomprehension of the thought . 2 . Be impressed by it , 3 . By an effort of the will if necessary, feel the emotion you express . Note 2 .- The law of mechanical to artistic applied to Reading gives 1 . Mechanical . 2 . Intelligent . 3 . Emotional . Note 3 — The first key-note in speech is emotion . XIV. Law of Articulation .— Enunciation should aim at Correctness, depending on the right position of the speech organs, and Distinctness, the result of the proper and energetic use . Note 1 .- In articulation the flow of vocalized and partly vocalized breath is so acted upon by the proper organs that many different sounds are produced, and these uttered singly or in groups are recognizable as words con- veying ideas . Note 2 . The term articulation strictly means the act of modifying the tone by the articulatory organs, but is used in a wider sense as that department of elocution treating of sounds and their production . XV. Law of Sounds.— In speech the body of sound, the vowels, should be rich and resonant, and the consonants, %vhile pronounced correctly and distinct- ly, must not receive undue force . Proper drill on the sounds will insure a smooth, agreeable, musical voice. Notel. "Mouthmg""istheresult'ofan overstrain- ed utterance of the consonant sounds . ELEMENTARY SOUNDS 21 Note 2 .- A fair test of refinement and vocal educa- tion is found in the pronunciation of the short vowels in unaccented syllables, as in solemn, government, criticism . The terminations ar, er, or and ur should not be pro- nounced exactly alike, though the slight force given to those syllables renders the distinction practically one of po- sition of organ rather than difference in sound . Too much force on the unaccented vowel marks the superfine scholar , Note 3 .- Tones of the voice express feeling, not thought ; illustrated in a cry of pleasure or of pain . Note 4 .— Voice should reflect character . The most melodious speecTi is empty unless given moral tone- color by true manhood or womanhood behind it. Nobility of soul adds a wealth of richness to the human voice ; consequently all voice culture that does not include genuine moral culture is barren of highest results. The study of Elocution or Expression brings forward into action a wider range of faculties than any other study; all those of the body, all those of the mind . Every shade of feeling, every form of thought, every mode of utterance, is studied and reproduced . The intellect is quickened, the reasoning powers brought into requisition, and the analytic faculty developed . The body attains to a greater dignity and suppleness, and the mind a broader scope, while the soul expands with grand and lofty ideals . Note 5 . The sounds of the English language are 1 . Vocal sounds, the expiring column of breath being wholly vocalized . a . Simple sounds admitting of no change in the position of the articulatory organs diuring the pro- gress of the tone. 1 . Long : e, 00 ; a, as in ah . 2. Short : a, e, i, o, u, oo . 22 SCIENCE OP SPEECH b . Dipthongal sounds, consist of two al- most inseparable sounds . Long a, i, o, u, oi, ou . c . Coalescent sounds, consist of a vowel inseparably joined to r : ar, er, or, ur. 2. Aspirate sounds, the expiring column of breath being wholly unvocalized . a . Pure Aspirate, breath only : h. b . Impure Aspirate, breath modified by the articulatory organs . Explodents, percussive sounds k, p, t, ch, wh . Continuants, those capable of indefinite prolongation , f , s, sh, th . 3 . Combined sounds, the expiring column of breath is partly vocalized . a . Continuants: 1, m, n, r, v, z, zh, ng, th. b . Suppressives, in which the sound is obstructed or partially suppressed : b, d, g, j, w, y. Total number of sounds 46 . Note 6 .- Sounds are classified as — Labials — when modified by the lips . Palatals — when modified by the palate . Dentals — when modified by the teeth . Linguals — when modified by the tongue . Nasals — when modified by the nasal cavity . Liquids are — 1, m, n, r. Sibilants are— s, z . Note 7 .- Cognates are sounds which occur in pairs one vocalized and the other not, the organs being in the same position for both . Note 8.- Equivalents are substitute sounds as— for long a, Gool, aid, gfflttge, \ay, yea, yfdgh, rein, they, aye. Note 9 - -For Exercises in Consonant Combinations seeFenno's Elocution, pages 23, 24, 78, 79, 242. CONSONANT SOUNDS 23 ORGANICAL TABLE OF CONSONANT SOUNDS, SHOWING COGNATES Pure . Labial Palatal Dental Lingual Nasal — Nasal — labial lingual Nasal — palatal Lingua — palatal Lingua — dental Labio — dental Aspirate h. p, wh, k, . t, ch, s, th, sh Combined h, w. g- d, i, z, zh. l,r. m. n. ng- y- th. V. TABLE OF CONTRASTS prmce mince sense dense tense chance tracks axe sex prints mints cents dents tents chants tracts acts sects ducks false reflex tens wrens fens relics instance incidence ducts faults reflects tends rends fence relicts instants incidents Note 10. — Practice the following exercise in Transi- tion and Repetition: S, sh. This ship, s, y. I shall miss you. s, z. Less zeal, sh, z. Fresh zephyrs, st, s. Sweetest song, st, sh. Largest shop, s, s. False sounds, sh, sh. Hush, Charlotte! z, z. As zealous, st, st. Severest storms. Note 11. — Spell phonetically some complete selec- tion. 24 SCIENCE OF SPEECH TABLE OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS For practice, Voice Sounds ate — a earn — e use — u father — a end — 8 up — a all — a ice — i urn — u at — a it — i ooze — 00 air — a old — 6 book — 00 ask — a orb — o oil — oi eve — e on — 5 Beeath Sounds out — ou fur — f pay — p chat — ch her — h sat — s she — sh kid — k ten — t Combined Sounds Voice and breath thin — th when — wh bay — b may — m yea — y day — d nay — n zone — z gay — g rare — r azure — z jay — j vane — v they — th lay-1 way — w long — ng PRONUNClATIOrf 25 XVI. Law of Pronunciation .— The usage of our best educated people, after eliminating provincialisms, if any exist, shall be the standard of pronunciation . Note 1 .- The Dictionaries aim to reflect the usage of educated people. Pronunciation, however, like lan- guage, being a matter of grotyth, is subject to change . In pronunciation, we must respect the genus of the lan- guage and the opinion of philologists . XVII . Law of Mental Grasp .-- Thought should so take hold on words as to give to speech a mental value apart from the mere loudness of the sound. Note 1 .- With a free, responsive voice and body and the thought and feeling living in the mind at the mo- ment of utterance, the truest expression will follow . Note 2 .- Voice without mind is mere noise and vulgarity . Shakespeare says, " It is the mind that makes the body rich ." XVIII. Law of Modulation .- Expression being intelligent utterance by means of m.odulation of the voice, we use successive changes of Quality, Pitch, Force and Time as will most clearly convey and fix the thought . Note.- Quality, Pitch, Force and Time are termed Elements of Modulation . XIX. Law of Voice Quality.— Quality is the Kind of voice . Pure in normal, genial and exalted moods, and Impure when under control of the baser passions or depressing emotions . Note .- The Pure Qualities are Simple Pure, and Orotund ; the Impure Qualities are Aspirate, Pectoral, Guttural and Falsetto . 26 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XX. Law of Simple Pure- Tranquility requires a clear, smooth, agreeable tone — the Simple Pure Quality. Note .- The term Tranquility as used in this trea- tise, is always understood to mean the natural or normal state of mind, perfectly free from emotion . It is illustrat- ed in the reading of a list of facts . Examples of Tranquility — STILLNES8 OP NIGHT " All heaven and earth are still, — Though not in sleep . But breathless as we grow when feeling most ; And silent as we stand in thoughts too deep — All heaven and earth are still . From the high host Of stars to the lulled lake and mountain coast. All is concentrated in a life intense. Where not a beam, nor air, nor leaf is lost, But hath a part of being, and a sense Of that which is of all. Creator and Defence . " How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank : Here will we sit and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears . Soft stillness and the night Become the touches of sweet harmony . Sit Jessica, look how all the floor of heaven la thick inlaid with patines of bright gold . There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubin. Such harmony is in immortal souls; But while this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close us in we cannot hear it . PURE TONE 27 TEANQUILITY IN NATURE . We wander'd to the Pine Forest that skirts the Ocean's foam ; The lightest wind was in its nest, the tempest in its home . The whispering waves were half asleep, the clouds were gone to play. And on the bosom of the deep the smile of Heaven lay ; It seem'd as if the hour were one sent from beyond the skies Which scattered from above the sun a light of Paradise I We paused amid the pines that stood the giants of the waste, Tortured by storms to shapes as rude as serpents interlaced, — And soothed by every azure breath that under heaven is blown To harmonies and hues beneath, as tender as its own : .Now all the tree-tops lay asleep, like green waves on the sea, As still as in the silent deep the ocean-woods may be , We paused beside the pools that lie under the forest bough; Each seem'd as 't were a little sky, gulf'd in a world below j A firmament of purple light, which in the dark earth lay. More boundless than the depth of night, and purer than the day— In which the lovalyforests grew asin the upper air. More perfect both in shape and hue than any spreading there . There lay the glade and neighboring lawn, and through the dark green wood The white sun twinkled like the dawn out of a speckled cloud. Sweet views which in our world above can never well be seen. Were imaged by the water'slove of that fair forest green : And all was interfused beneath with an Elysian glow. An atmosphere without a breath, a softer day below . Shelley . Now the first stars begin to tremble forth Like the first instruments of an orchestra Touched softly, one by one,^ There in the East Kindles the glory of moonrise : how its waves Break in a surf of silver on the clouds !— White, motionless clouds, like soft and snowy wings Which the great Earth spreads, sailing round the Sun . O silent stars I that over ages past Have shone serenely as ye shine to-night. Unseal, unseal the secret that ye keep 1 Is it not time to tell us why we live ? Sill. 28 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXI. Law of Orotund.— Grandeur, reverence, adoration, impassioned utterance and ad- dress, shouting, stem command and poetic fervor re- quire a round, full, flowing monotone — the Orotund Quality . Examples of Orotund — ossian'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? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty; the stars hide themselves in the sky : the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave ; but thou thyself movest alone . Who can be a companion to thy course ? The oaks of the mountain fall ; the mountains themselves decay with years; the ocean shrinks and grows again ; the moon herself is lost in heaven, but thou art forever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course . When the world is dark with tempests, when the thunder rolls and lightning flies, thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm, but to Ossian thou lookest in vain, for hebe» holds thy beams no more ; whether thy yellow hair flows on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art perhaps like me, for a season; thy years will have an end . Thou shalt sleep in thy clouds, careless of the voice of the morning. Exult, then O sun, in the strength of thy youth I Age is dark and unlovely ; it is like the glimmering light of the moon when it shines through broken clouds, and the mist is on the hills : the blast of the north is on the plain ; the traveller shrinks in the midst of his journey . Macphenon. IMPURE TONE 29 Daniel's interpretation op the king's dream . "And in the days of these kingdoms shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever . Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold ; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter : and the dream ia cer- tain, and the interpretation thereof sure . " Danid II .• 44-45 . XXII Law of Aspirate .— Fear, secrecy, woti- der, disgust, awe, dread and ecstatic joy demand the half whisper, or Vocal Aspirate Quality : while ex- treme caution or secrecy calls for a whisper, or Pure Aspirate . Examples — Macbeth . " I've done the deed ! Didst thou not hear a noise ? Hark ! Who lies i' the second chamber ? There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried 'Murder !' Methought I heard a voice cry ' Sleep no more ! Macbeth doth murder sleep . ' I am afraid to think what I have done ; look on't again I dare not ." "Macbeth ." Shakespeare. Beatrice . " Did he pass this way ? Have you seen him brother ? Ah, no ! That is his step upon the stair . 'Tis nearer now; his hand is on the door ! Mother, mother if I to thee have ever been a duteous child, now save me. He comes ! The door is opening now ! " "TheCmci." SJwUey. 30 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXIII. Law of Pectoral.- Physical or mental suffering, groaning, horror, remorse, despair, and the supernatural require a lifeless relcuxed action of the vocal cords, and a hollow, deep-seated chest tone, ternir ed Pectoral Quality. Note .- Great care should be exercised in the practice of the Impure Quality of voice, especially the Pectoral and the Guttural . A very little injudicious drill on this quality of voice will undo the most faithful work in voice culture and may ruin the voice permanently . As a safeguard, the strain must not all be on the voice, let the physical body lead in the expression . Examples — Marley's Ghost . "You will be haunted by three spirits . Without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path I tread . Expect the first to-morrow night, when the bell tolls one. Expect the second on the next night at the same hour . The third on the next night, when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate . Look to see me no more ; but look that for your own sake yon remember what has passed between us ," " Christiaas Carol . " Charles Dtckens . My head is low, and no man cares for me ; I think I have not three days more to live ; My God has bowed me down to what I am; My grief and solitude have broken me Nevertheless, know you I am he Who married-but that name has twice been changed- I married her who married Philip Ray . Sit, woman, sit and listen . "Enoch Arden." Tennysm, IMPURE TONE 31 XXIV. Law of tf^ Guttural.- The malicious passions, such as anger, hatred, spite, loathing, con- tempt and defiance require a harsh, tense, throaty, Guttural Quality. Examples — THE YORKSHIRE SCHOOL. Squeers left the room, and shortly after returned, drag- ging Smike by the collar. « Now what have you got to say for yourself ? » "Spare me. Sir!" " O, that's all you've got to say, is it ? Yes, I'li flog you within an inch of your life and spare you that. " One cruel blow had faUen on him, when Nicholas Nickleby cried, « Stop . " "Who cried, stop?" "I did, this must not go on ." " Must not go on ! " "Must not go on ! Shall not ! I will prevent it . " " Sit down, beggar." " Wretch touch -him again at your peril ! I will not stand by and see it done . My blood is up, and I have the strength of ten such men as you . By heaven ! I will not spare you if you drive me on ! I have a series of per- sonal insults to avenge, and my indignation is aggravated by the cruelties practiced in this foul den . Have a care, for if you raise the devil in me, the consequences will fall heavily upon your own head !" Squeers spat at him, and struck him a blow across the face. Nicholas instantly sprang upon him, wrested his weapon from his hand, and, pinning him by the throat, beat the ruffian till he roared for mercy . Then such a cheer arose as the walls of Dotheboys Hall had never ech- oed before, and would never respond to again. "Mtcholas JVickleby," Charles Dickens, 32 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXV. Law of Falsetto. — Terror and extreme pain take a shrill, shrieking Falsetto Quality, as does the imitation of a high-pitched female voice . Mr . Squeers having bolted the house door to keep it shut, ushered him into a small parlor, where they had not been a couple of minutes when a female bounced into the room and seizing Mr . Squeers by the throat, gave him two loud kisses like a postman's knock, saying — "How is my Squeery ? " " JVicAotog NiMeby , " Charles Dklcem. dear, my heart will break, I shall go stick stark staring wild 1 Has even a one seen any thing ^ about the streets like a crying lost-looking child ? Lawk help me, I don't know where to look, or to run, if 1 only knew which way — A child as is lost about London streets, an especially Seven Dials, is a needle in a bottle of hay . 1 am all in a quiver — get out of my sight, do, you wretch, you little Kitty M' Nab ! You promised to have an eye on him, you know you did, you dirty deceitful young drab . Them vile Savoyards 1 they lost him once before all along of following a Monkey and an Organ : O my Billy — my head will turn right round — if he's got kiddynapped with them Italians They'll make him a plaster parish image boy, they will, the outlandish tatterdemalions. Billy — where are you, Billy ? — I'm as hoarse as a crow with schreaming for ye, you young sorrow ! And shan't have half a voice, no more I shan't, for crying fresh herring to-morrow . "Tim lost Heir." jjood. PITCH OF VOICE 3S XXVI, Law of Pitch . — Pitch or key of the voice while often changing is ever determined by the sentiment, being Low, High or Natural, according to whether the sentiment is depressed, elevated or nor- mal. Note 1. — Tbe element, Pitch, includes degree of Pitch, Force, Slide and Cadence. Note 2 . — Tranquility takes Natural Pitch, For^ce, Quality, Bate, Time and Pause and requires the speaker's unemphatic utterance . The Pitch of the voice is governed by the pulse . Excitement that quickens the pulse raises the pitch of the voice ; that which quiets the pulse lowers the pitch. The excitable, nervous person has the shrill, high-pitched voice, while-the calm, dignified person speaks on the low pitch . The influence of the voice in this particular is most contagious and magnetic in its effect. One scream has often the power to scare away a robber or to start a panic . The shrill, high-pitched voice is responsible for much rest- lessness and nerve irritation . Such a voice has no place in the school-room where it is so often found ; nor in the sick-room . The low, quiet voice restores balance, gives assurance and does good like medicine . To the public speaker attention to the pitch is of utmost importance . The excitement and consequent quickening of the pulse when a speaker rises to begin, often causes him to pitch the voice to a high, strained unnatural key which once started is well-nigh impossible to change and this alone has caused a failure of many an effort which would have been a success had the voice been properly pitched at the start . The voice may climb up to a high pitch, and make natural changes easily, but started once too high it must carry out the whole gamut to the finish . 34 SCIENCE OF SPEECH It is possible however, if one is conscious of the fact that he has made a bad beginning, to come to a full stop ; in the pause, take a breath, strike the low pitch before proceeding. Following is a speaker's golden rule — " Be self-possessed. When most impressed ; Begin low . Proceed slow; Rise higher ; take fire . " Beading is also robbed of its natural expression by a high pitch as if the mind were imder some unnatural strain. In conversation the changes of pitch come easily and natu- rally, yet this natural management of pitch is the first point to loose in public speaking or in reading. Because of the pitch and monotonous flow of words we may readily detect a person reading aloud, whom we can- not see. "The causes of the change of pitch are about the same as those which make the branch of a tree, or a leaf upon that branch, to grow in a given direction. Wherever there is life it will seek outflow in the most unhindered di- rection . Life, like water, will flow into the most open channel . Monotony is death - ' ' A change of the mind or a change in the thought wiU cause a change of pitch, or a leap of the voice from one point to another . The length of the interval, as well as the length of the slide is caused by the intensity of the thought or of the emotion. The greater the excitement, the wider the interval • The study of pitch and slide is complicated and profound in some points like Harmony in music . Rush has given a comprehensive treatise on the subject. He says there is a difficulty in fixing a key in speech like the key-note in Song, but proper cadence afEects the ear in speech like the INTERVALS 35 consumation of a key-note in music . The octave is the widest interval of the speaking scale, yet the voice may go beyond it , Intervals of a fifth above the current melody are generally within the range of the natural voice. Intervals of the third are less emphatic and intense than the FIFTH . The rising second is still more limited in ex- tent . It is the base of the diatonic melody, conveying plain meaning in contrast with passionate states . Plain melody with long quantity gives it dignity . "He who is continually dealing out thirds, fifths, OCTAVES, allows no repose to the ear, and when real cause for expression comes, both the ear and the mind are un- able to perceive the real meaning : while upon the meal kvd, so to speak, of the diatonic ground, the expressive intervals properly employed come with all pleasing and natural effect of variety and contrast . " Semitone is universally the sign of animal distress . In the call "fire" is an example of the voice rising a semi- tone . " fi-yer . " Intervals of the fourth, sixth, and seventh may be employed for questions, but the thirds, fifths and eighths are more easily recognized as definite points on the musical instrument and in the human voice . Downward intervals may pass through an octave . Example — " Well done ! " The downward may pass through the shorter intervals as well as the longer. The key and interval in speech is much the same as in music . The intervals from one pitch to another are con- trolled by the action of the mind as will be treated later . Intensity of thought and feeling cause the long leaps from one pitch to another giving long intervals . We may make a short cut of a profound and interesting study-yet a study if not carried out far enough has dangers of making mechanical readers-by attention to the thought. 36 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Generally speaking we may say : a change of pitch is caused by a change of the sentiment, of the feeling, or a change from one thought to another, as when introducing a new subject . We should not confound high and low pitch with loud and soft voice. On the piano high or low may be played loudly or softly , The voice is used in the same way . Examples of High Pitch — Sing the bridal of nations ! with chorals of love, Sing out the war vulture and sing in the dove. Till the hearts of the people keep time in accord, And the voice of the world is the voice of the Lord ! Clasp hands of the nations In strong gratulations ; The dark night is ending and dawn has begun ; Bise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun, All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one ! « Christmas Carman. " Whittier. Then there arose on high the universal shrieks of the women ; the men stared at each other, but were dumb . At that moment they felt the earth shake beneath their feet; the walls of the theatre trembled ; and beyond in the distance, they heard the crash of falling roofs ; an instant more and the mountain-cloud seemed to roll towards them dark and rapid, like a torrent ; at the same time it cast forth from its bosom a shower of ashes mixed with vast fragments of burning stone ! Over the crushing vines, — over the desolate streets, — over the amphitheatre itself, — far and wide, — with a mighty splash in the agitated sea, — fell that awful shower ! Each turned to fly — each dashing, pressing, crushing, against the other. But darker, larger, mightier, spread the cloud|above them. " Lad Days of Pompeii. " Lytton . MEDIUM OR NATURAL PITCH 37 Examples of Medium or Natural Pitcli — Now was the winter gone, and the snow ; and Robin the Redbreast, Bojisted on bush and tree it was he, it was he and no other That had covered with leaves the Babes in the wood, and blithely All the birds sang with him, and little cared for his boasting, Or of his Babes in the Wood, or the CruelUncle, and only Sang for the mates they had chosen, and cared foi: the nests they were building . With them, but more sedately and meekly Elizabeth Haddon Sang in her inmost heart, but her lips were silent and songless . Thus came the lovely spring with a rush of blossoms and music. Flooding the earth with flowers, and the air with melodies vernal. "Elizabeth." Longfellow. Trust thyself : every heart vibrates to that iron string . Accept the place the divine providence has found for you the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their percep- tion that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched in a. corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but re- deemers and benefactors, pious aspirants to be noble clay under the Almighty effort let us advance on Chaos and the Dark . Who has more soul than I masters me, though he should not raise a finger . Round him I must revolve by the gravitation of spirits. « Self. Reliance ." ^- W. Emerson . 38 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Examples of Low Pitch — The' world on world in myriad myriads roll Eound us, each with different powers, And other forms of life than ours, What know we greater than the soul ? On God and Godlike men we build our trust. Hush, the Dead March wails in the people's ears : The dark crowd moves and there are sobs and tears ; The black earth yawns : the mortal disappears. "DeaA of the Dolce of WeUingtm . " Tennyson . Into the awful death-chamber of the abbey they bore him one midnight . He was dying . On the bare floor of the death-chamber they sprinkled consecrated ashes in the form of a cross . Over these they scattered straw, and over the straw they drew a coarse serge cloth . This was his death-bed — a sign that in the last hour he was once more admitted to the fellowship of his order . From the low couch on which he lay he looked at it. Then he made a sign to the abbot, in the mute language of the brotherhood . The abbot repeated it to one of the attend- ant fathers, who withdrew and soon returned, bringing a white cowl . Lifting aside the serge cloth, he spread the cowl over the blessed cinders and straw . Father Palemon's request had been that he might die upon his cowl, and on this they now stretched his poor emaciated body, his cold feet just touching the old earth-stains upon its hem . He lay quite still, with closed eyes. Then he turned them upon the abbot and the monks who were kneeling in prayer around him, and said, in a voice of great and gen- tle dignity ; " My father — my brethren, have I your full forgive- ness?" With sobs they bowed themselves around him . CHANGE OF PITCH 39 After this he received the crucifix, tenderly embracing it, and then lay still again, as if awaiting death . But finally he turned over on one side, and raising himself on one forearm, sought with the hand of the other among the folds of his cowl until he found a small blood-stain upon its bosom . Then he lay down again, pressing hia cheek against it ; and thus the second time a monk, but even in death a lover, he breathed out his spirit with a faint whisper — " Madeline . " And as he lay on the floor, so now he lies in the dim cemetary garth outside wrapped from head to foot in his cowl, with its stains on the hem and the bosom . " The While Cowl . " James Lane Men . CHANGE OR TRANSITION IN PITCH. In the following examples are marked changes in pitch with wide intervals as well as a great variety of shorter leaps of the voice . In changing from one pitch to another, from high to low or from low to high, make the change in a pause ; do not think to blend one form into another . Principles governing Transition of the Feet apply to the voice as well ; both are made for the same cause . In the following examples let each pupil for himself, get the full thought, then give it expression, giving attention first to transitions most marked with wiafe intervals ; later the narrmv, yet nevertheless, very important intervals . Examples of Change or Transition of Pitch — And the wind began to rise, an' I thought of him out at sea. An' I felt I had been to blame ; he was always kind to me . 'Wait a little, my lass, I am sure it'll all come right — ' An' the boat went down that night — the boat went down that night . " The First Quarrel . " Tennyson. 40 SCIENCE OF SPEECH " The foe came on, and few remain To strive, and those must strive in vain : To the high altar, on they go, And round the sacred table glow Twelve lofty lamps, in splendid row. From the purest metal cast ; A spoil — the richest, and the last. So near they came, the nearest stretched To grasp the spoil, he almost reached, — When old Minott's hand Touch'd with the torch the train — 'Tis fired ! Spire, vaults, the shrine, the spoil, the slain. The turban'd victors, the Christian band. All that of living or dead remain, Hurled on high with the shiver'd fane In one wild roar expired ! " A SURPRISING DISCOVERY. Marner closed his door, unaware of any intermediate change, except that the light had grown dim, and that he was chilled and faint . Turning toward the hearth where the two logs had feillen apart, and sent forth only a red, uncertain glimmer, he seated himself on his fireside chair and was stooping to push his logs together, when to his blurred vision, it seemed as if there was gold in front of his hearth 1 Gold I his own gold — brought back as mys- teriously as it had been taken away I He felt his heart begin to beat violently, for a few moments he was unable to stretch forth his hand and grasp the restored treasure . The heap of gold seemed to glow and to get larger be- neath his agitated gaze . He leaned forward, at last and stretohehed forth his hand; but instead of the hard coin with the familiar outline, his fingers encountered soft warm SLIDES OF THE VOICE 41 curls . In utter amazement Silas fell upon his knees and bent his head low to examine the marvel : it was a sleeping child — a round fair thing, with soft yellow rings all over its head'. The wee boots had at last suggested to Silas that the child had been walking in the snow, and this roused him from his entire oblivion of any ordinary means by which it could have entered or been brought into his house . Under the promptings of this new idea, and without wait- ing to form conjectures, he raised the child in his arms, and went to the door . As soon as he had opened it, there was a cry of " mammy " again which Silas had not heard since the child's first hungry waking. Bending forward he could just discern the marks made by the little feet on the virgin snow, and he followed their tracks to the furze bushes . " Mammy ! " the little one cried again, stretch- ing itself forward so as almost to escape from Silas's arms, before he himself was aware, that there was something more, than the bush before him — that there was a human body with the head sunk low in the furze, and half covered with the shaken snow . " /Site Mamer . " George Eliot . XXVII. Law of Slides . — In monotone the voice is carried along on a level, while in natural conver- sation, it is full of inflections, continually sliding up and down . These slides give life to speech and ren- der it expressive . The voice full of slides can give the finest shades of meaning, while the tone of strength and power approach the monotone and is less expres- sive . Slides lead the mind away from the general thought to the individual ideas. Note 1. — In song the voice passes from one key 42 SCIENCE OF SPEECH to another by distinct steps, called Discrete movement, bat in speech Concrete movement is used . Note 2 . — The Monotone while generally a fault is properly used when great impressiveness is desired . SIGNIFICANCE OP LINES. Slides in the voice, movements of the arms in gesture, are governed in a general way, by the same principles as are found in the other arts. We find the Curved line is expressive of grace and beau- ty ; the Straight line, strength ; the Spiral, mystic, spiritual. The Straight line is physical in significance; the Curved line, mental; the Spiral, emotivci spiritual, mystic. " Curved is the line of beauty; straight is the line of duty; Follow the Second, and you will see the First will ever follow thee." Following are outlines showing meaning of lines of Form, Sound, Motion in Nature and Art . 8TKAIGHT LINES EXPRESSIVE OF STRENGTH. Form. a . Nature . i. Bocky layers in the earth's crust ii . Towering peaks, bluffs, canyons, iii. Glaciers. b. Architecture- i . Pyraibids . ii . Eocky caves of Egypt and Assyria . iii. Walls of ancient cities. iv . Massive modem buildings, places of commerce. Sound . i . Boar of thunder, and the roar of a storm . ii . Growl of angry animals . iii . Some martial music . iv . Orotund voice in monotone . LINES IN EXPRESSION 43 Motion . i . The walk of a person nrho is decided, and has a determined, earnest purpose . ii . The course of a strong wind . iii. Lightning flash . iv. Heavy blows. CURVED LINES EXPRESSIVE OF GRACE AND BEAUTY,, Form. Nature, i. Outlines of distant hills and mountains, ii . Winding streams . iii . Banks of clouds . iv. Endless variety in vegetable life, curve of branch, of leaf and flower. V. Animals, the horse, for example, has a variety of curve-B and complex lines of beauty, vi . The human body reaches highest perfection of grace, harmonic blending of lines of beauty. Architecture . i. Domes, arches, niches, endless combinations of ornamental carvings and devices . Bound . i. Rhythmic sounds in nature, ii . Songs of birds, rippling water . iii . Music of all kinds . iv. Slides and inflections of the human voice. V. Rhythm of speech. Motion . i . Motion of the waves . ii . Birds floating in the air . iii. Fishes swimming in the water, iv . Movements of some animals . v . Fields of waving grain . 44 SCIENCE OF SPEECH SPIRAL LINES ARE SYMBOLIC OP THE SPIRITUAL, MYSTICAL. Examples of the spiral line we find in the motion of flame ending in a vanish of smoke, which suggests the the spiritual, mystical, vanish. We find this idea illus- trated in the ancient worship, the prayers being offered up with the sacrifice . Slowly from out tlie west the yellow rays of Ripening sunshine die, hushed are the song and jest; And from the sacrifice by priestly hands Sweet, spicy incense, like a voiceless prayer, Floats upon perfumed wings, to Mercy's throne. Down cloudy pathway walks the coming night, Casting mysterious shadows in her way . " Rixpali." Luey Blinn, The flame and smoke in an open grate plays with the fancy and leads the mind into the realm of the mystic. In Art, Music, Architecture, and Life the upward curve is expressive of joy, gladness, exultation and kindred emotions : the downward lines manifest downcast, dejected feelings : sorrow, melancholy, and gloomy emotions . Let us sum up the matter by saying : the slides of the voice and the direction of the arms in gesture move in a straight, curved, or spiral line according to the sentiment. A study of the expression of lines may be found useful in many ways beside voice and gesture, music, architecture, and painting ; arrangement of the lines in dress, the placing of articles in a room may be made to suggest cheer or gloom or strength . All recognize the meaning of the lines in the expression of the face. We understand what is' meant by the expression " down in the mouth . " The Psalmist often speaks of " horn exalted, or trumpet lifted up in rejoicing . " Straight out from the shoulder, " tells of energetic action. RISING SLIDES 45 XXVIII. Law of Rising Slides- — Ascending slides are employed — / . While the meaning is yet incomplete . Examples — " The horrid crags by toppling convent crown'd, The cork-tree's hoar that clothe the shaggy steep, The mountain moss hy scorching skies embrown'd, The sunken glen whose sunless shrubs must weep, The tender azure of the unruffled deep, The orange tints that gild the greenest bough. The torrents that from cliff to valley leap, The vine on high, the willow-branch below, Mixed in one mighty scene with varied beauty glow ." 2. Throughout and at the end of negative clauses and sentences . " Not high raised battlements nor labored mound, Thick wall, or moated gate ; not cities proud, nor spires Nor turrets crowned, nor bays, nor broad arm'd ports; Not stars, nor spangled courts, — these do not form a state. " "Tis not enough — No ! Vengeance cannot take away the grace of hfe: The comeliness of look that virtue gives. Its port erect with consciousness of truth. Its rich attire of honorable deeds. Its fair report that's rife on good men's tongues . It cannot lay its hands on these, no more Than it can pluck his brightness from the sun, Or with polluted finger tarnish it . " "Tell me not in mournful numbers. Life is but an empty dream !" 46 SCIENCE OF SPEECH 3. At the end of a complete thought when immediately followed by another in similar strain . " Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds; Save where the beetle wheels its drony flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds ; Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower, The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as wandering near her secretbower, Molest her ancient, solitary reign ." " He that is truly polite, knows how to contradict with respect, and to please without adulation ; and is equally re- mote from an insipid complaisance and a low familiarity." 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 ; The flush of life may well be seen Thrilling back over hills and valleys; The cowslip startles in meadows green ; The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean To be some happy creature's palace; The little bird sits at his door in the sun, Atilt like a blossom among the leaves. And lets his illumined being o'errun With the deluge of summer it receives ; His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest, — In the nice ear of nature which song is the best ? " Vimn of Sir Lavnfal. " Lowell . RISING SLIDES 47 4. In unemphatic questions answerable by yes or no, and in inverted questions and clauses . " Think you a little din can daunt mine ears ? Have I not in my time heard lions roar? Have I not heard the sea pufPd up with winds, Rage like an angry bear ? Have I not heard great ordnance in the field ? And Heaven's artillery thunder in the sky ? Have I not a pitched battle heard Loud alarms, neighing steeds and trumpets clang ? And do you tell me of a woman's tongue? " " Of what use is fortune or talent to a cold or defective nature ? Who cares what sensibility or discrimination a man has at some time shown, if he falls asleep in his chair ? or if he laugh and giggle ? or if he apologize ? or if he is affected with egotism? or thinks of his dollar? or cannot go by food? Of what use is genius, if the organ is too convex or too concave, and cannot find a focal distance within the actual horizon of human life? Of what use, if the brain is too cold or too hot, and the man does not care enough for results, to stimulate him to experiment, and hold him up in it? Orif the webis too finely woven, too irri- table by pleasure and pain, so that life stagnates from too much reception, without due outlet? Of what use to make heroic vows of amendment, if the same old law-breaker is to keep them ? " " Oh, ever beautious ! ever friendly ! tell Is it in Heav'n a crime to love too well? To bear too tender, or too firm a heart, To act a Lover's or a Roman's part? Is there no bright reversion in the sky, For those who greatly think or bravely die? " 48 SCIENCE OF SPEECH 5, In clauses expressing doubt or contingency. " If a cool, determined courage, that no apparently hope- less struggle could lessen or subdue — if a dauntless reso- lution, that shone the brightest in the midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers — if a heart ever open to the ten- derest affections of our nature and the purest pleasures of social intercourse — if an almost childlike simplicity of character, that while incapable of craft or dissimulation in itself, yet seemed to have an intuitive power of seeing and defeating the insidious designs and treacheries of others — if characteristics such as these constitute their possessor a hero, then I say, foremost in the rank of heroes shines the deathless name of Washington !" " If it be proved against an alien. That by direct or indirect attempts He seek the life of any citizen, The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive Shall seize on half his goods ." 6. In some exclamatory utterances. " Oh beautiful I Oh wonderful ! Oh divine ! A scale has fallen from my sight, A marvelous glory was called forth And shone upon the face of earth . I saw millions of spirits darting To and fro athwart the air — spirits That my magic had never yet discerned Spirits of rainbow hues and quivering With the joy that made their nature. Wherever I cast my gaze, life upon life Was visible, — every blade of grass Swarmed with myriads, invisible To the common eye, but all performing still. RISING SLIDES 49 With mimic regularity, the varied courses Of the human race ; every grain of dust, Every drop of water, was a universe Mapped into a thousand tribes, and all Fulfilling the destinies of mortality. Love, Fear, Hope, Emulation, Avarice, Jealousy, War, Death . " Ye ice-falls I ye that from the mountain's brow Adown 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 Heaven Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the sun Clothe you with rainbows? Who with living flowers Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet? God ! let the torrents, like a shout of nations. Answer ! and let the ice-plains echo, God ! And they too have a voice — yon piles of snow And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God ! Hymn to Mount Blanc . " Coleridge . "Oh ! When the heart is full — when bitter thoughts Come crowding thickly up for utterance. And the poor words of common courtesy Are such a very mockery — how much The bursting heart may pour itself in prayer ! " " O, speak again bright angel ! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head As is a winged messenger of heaven ! O blessed, blessed night ! I am af eared. Being in night, all this is but a dream 1 " 50 SCIENCE OF SPEECH 7. In wonder and surprise, and in expressions of the genial emotions, such as joy, hope, love . " My gracious lord, I should report that which I saw, But know not how to do it : — As I did stand my watch upon the hill, The ivood began to move — Let me endure your wrath if it be not so : Within these three miles you may see it coming — I say a moving grove ! " J^orbert — Now I Constance — Not now I JVorbert — Give me them again, those hands — Put them upon my forehead, how it throbs 1 Press them before my eyes, the fire comes through ! You cruellest, you dearest in the world. Let me 1 The Queen must grant what *er I ask — How can I gain you and not ask the Queen 1 There she stays waiting for me, here stand you ; Some time or other this was to be asked, Now is the one time — what I ask, I gain : Let me aak now, love I (Jonetaiux — Do, and ruin us ! JVorbert — Let it be now, Love I All my soul breaks forth. How I do love you I Give my love its way I A man can have but one life and but one death, One heaven, one hell . Let me fulfil my fate — Grant me my heaven now I Let me know you mine, Prove you mine, write my name upon your brow. Hold you and have you, and then die away. If God please, with completion in my soul I " In A Balcony . " Robert Browning, RISING SLIDES 51 Dvke — My own sweet love ! O my dear peerless wife ! By the blue sky and all its crowding stars, I love you better — oh, far better than Woman was ever loved . There's not an hour Of day or dreaming night but I am with thee : There's not a wind but whispers of thy name, And not a flower that sleeps beneath the moon But in its hues, or fragrance tells a tale Of thee, my love, to thy Mirandola. Speak, dearest Isidora, can you love As I do? Can — But no, no ; I shall grow Foolish if thus I talk . You must be gone ; You must be gone, fair Isidora, else The business of the dukedom soon will cease. I speak the truth, by Dian ! even now Gheraldi waits without ( or should ) to see me. In faith, you must go : one kiss; and so, away. Isidora — Farewell, my lord. Duke — Farewell. — With what a waving air she goes Along the corridor. How like a fawn; Yet statelier . — Hark ! no sound, however soft — Nor gentlest echo — telleth when she treads; But every motion of her shape doth seem Hallowed by silence . Thus did Hebe grow Amidst the gods, a paragon; and thus — Away ! I'm grown the very fool of love . "Mirandolo. " B.W. Proctor " O Jessica ! Jessica ! Jessica ! And to this day the sight of peach blossoms in the spring — the • rustle of au- tumn leaves under my feet ! Can you recall the lines of Malory ? 'Men and women could love together seven years, and then were love truth and faithfulness . ' How many more than seven have I loved you 1 — ^you who never gave me any thing but friendship." 52 SCIENCE OF SPEECH " For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin the worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. " 8. In salutation and pleading. " O king, live forever 1 " Duke — And here I take it is the doctor come. Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario? Portia — I did my lord. Duke — You are welcome . Take your place, Cassiua — Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you? Mam — What, my young master ! O my gentle master ! O my sweet master ! O you memory Of old Sir Rowland! why, what make you here? Too hard to bear! why did they take me thence? O God Almighty, blessed Savior, Thou That didst uphold me on my lonely isle. Uphold me, Father, in my loneliness A little longer ! aid me, give me strength Not to tell her, never to let her know . Help me not to break in upon her peace . My children too ! must I not speak to these? They know me not. I should betray myself. Never: no father's kiss for me — the girl So like her mother, and the boy, my son . " Enoch Jlrden." Tennyson. " Is it not more than midnight now 1 Have mercy ; Oh do not grasp me with such violence. Oh spare me, sure I have not injured thee ? Let me not weep and pray to thee in vain I " FALLING SLIDES 53 XXIX. Law of FaUmg Slides — It has been said that ascending slides serve to hold the subject up to view, while the descending slides are used to lay down the completed thought. 1 . When the meaning is complete . Examples — The world is too much with us ; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers ; Little we see in nature that is ours ; We give our hearts away, a sordid boon ! This sea that bares her bosom to the moon ; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers ; For this and for everything we are out of tune; It moves us not. — Great God ! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn ; 80 might I, standii^g on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn ; Have sights of Proteus rising from the sea ; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn . IFordswortft. There is sweet music here that softer falls Than petals from blown roses on the grass, Or night-dews on still waters between walls Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass; Music that gentler on the spirit lies, Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes ; Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful Here are cool mosses deep, And thro' the moss the ivies creep. 54 SCIENCE OF SPEECH And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep, And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep . How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream. With half-shut eyes ever to seem Falling asleep in a half-dream I To dream and dream, like yonder amber light. Which will not leave the. myrrh-bush on the height ; To hear each other's whisper'd speech ; Eating the lotos day by day, To watch the crisping ripples on the beach. And tender curving lines of creamy spray; To lend our hearts and spirits wholly To the influences of mild-minded melancholy ; To muse and brood and live again in memory, With those old faces of our infancy Heap'd over with a mound of grass. Two handf uls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass ! But, propt on beds of amaranth and moly How sweet (while warm airs lull us blowing lowly ) With half-dropt eyelids, still. Beneath a heaven dark and holy, To watch the long, bright river drawing slowly His waters from the purple hill — To hear the dewy echoes calling From cave to cave thro' the thick-twined viae — To watch the emerald-colour'd water falling Thro' many a wov'n acanthus- wreath divine I Only to hear and see the far-off sparkling brine. Only to hear were sweet, stretched out beneath the pine. The Lotos blooms below the barren peak : The Lotos blows by every winding creek : All day the wind breathes low with mellower lone; Thro' every hollow cave and alley lone, FALLING SLIDES 55 Eound and round the spicy downs the yellow Lotos- dust is blown . We have had enough of action, and of motion, we, Roll'd to starboard, roU'd to larboard, when the surge was seething free, When the wallowing monster spouted his foam-foun- tains in th,e sea . Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind. In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind . H: * H: :): s): ^ Surely, surely slumber is more sweet than toil, the shore Than labor in the deep mid- ocean, wind and wave and oar; Oh rest ye, brother marin^, we will not wander more , « The Song of the Lotos-Eaters." Tennyson. " Now came still evening on, and twilight grey Had in her sober liVry all things clad . Silence accompanied : for beast and bird, They to their grassy couch, these to their nests. Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale : ■ She all night long, her am'rous descant sung . Silence was pleas'd. Now glowed the firmament With living sapphires : Hesperus, that lead The starry host, rode brightest; till the moon. Rising in clouded majesty, at length Apparent queen, unveil'd her peerless light, And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw . " " Give thy thoughts no tongue. Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar . The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel ." 56 SCIENCE OF SPEECH 2. To separate individual clauses, independent in meaning. " Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate ; Nothing to him falls early or too late . Our acts our angels are, or good or ill. Our fatal shadows that walk hy us still. " *• Man is higher than his dwelling -place : he looks up and unfolds the wings of his soul, and when the sixty min- utes which we call sixty years, have passed, he takes flight, kindling as he rises, and the ashes of his feathers fall back to earth, and the unveiled soul, freed from its covering of clay, and pure as a tone, ascends on high . Even in the midst of the dim shadows of ^fe, he sees the mountains of a future world gilded with the morning rays of a sun which rises not here below . " " Bless the Lord, O my soul I O 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. " " Thou breathest, — and the obedient storm is still; Thou speakest, — silent the submissive wave ; Man's scattered ship the rushing waters fill, And the hushed billows roll across his grave . Sourceless and endless God I compared with Thee, Life is a shadowy, momentary dream. And time when viewed through Thy eternity Less than the mote of morning's golden beam, " FALLING SLIDES 67 3. Questions not answered by yes orno. " But tell why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death. Have burst their cerements; Why the sepulchre, Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws, To cast thee up again . What may this mean, That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon. Making night hideous ; and we fools of nature So horridly to shake our disposition With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls ? Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do? " " Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul, which long for death, but it Cometh not ; and dig for it more than for hid treasure ; which rejoice exceedingly and are glad, when they can find a grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in ? " " How long did he pause upon the brink of the Rubicon? How came he to the brink of that river? How dared he cross it? Shall private men respect the boundaries of pri- vate property, and shall a man pay no respect to the boun- daries of his country's rights ? How dared he cross that river? Oh ! but he paused upon the brink. He should have perished upon the brink ere he had crossed it ! Why did he pause? Why does a man's heart palpitate when he is on the point of committing an unlawful deed? Why does the very murderer, his victim sleeping before him, and his glaring eye taking the measure of the blow, strike wide of the mortal part? Because of conscience ! 'Twas that that made Csesar pause upon the brink of the Rubicon. Compassion I What compassion ? The compassion of an assassin. " 58 SCIENCE OP SPEECH 4. Often in questions answerable by yes or no . " Then Satan answered the Lord and said — ' Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and all he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. Put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.' " " What patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by this expurging resolution ? Can you make that mo< to be which has been? Can you eradicate from memory and from history the fact that in March, 1843, a majority of the Senate of the United States passed the resolution which excites your enmity? Is it your vain and wicked object to arrogate to yourselves that power of annihilating the past that has been denied to Omnipotence itself? Do you intend to thrust your hands into our hearts and pick out the deep rooted convictions that are there? Or is your design merely to stigmatize us? You cannot stigma- tize us. Ne'er yet did base dishonor blur our name. " 5. Throughout emphatic affirmation. " Fear thou not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I wiU uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold all that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded ; they shall be as noth- ing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee ' I will help thee . ' " FALLING SLIDES 59 Quxen Katharine — Sir, I desire you do me right and justice ; And to bestow your pity on me. Heaven witness, I have been to you a true and humble wife, At all times to your will conformable . If in the course And process of this time, you can report, And prove it too against mine honor aught. My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty. Against your sacred person, in God's name Turn me away . "Hear what Highland Nora said : ' The Earlie's son I will not wed. Should all the race of nature die. And none be left but he and I . For all the gold, for all the gear, And all the lands both far and near, That ever valor lost or won, I would not wed the Earlie's son. ' " " Ham asked him whither he was going . ' I am going to seek my niece . I am going to seek my Em'ly . I am going, first, to stave in that theer boat as he gave me, and sink it where I would have drownded him, as Fm a livin' soul, if I had one thought of what was in him ! No one stop me ! I tell you I'm a going to seek my niece ! I'm a going to seek her fur and wide ! ' " " I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond . I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak, I'll have my bond ; and therefore speak no more, I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool. To shake the head, relent, and sigh and yield To Christian intercessors . Follow not ; I'll have no speaking — I will have my bond I " 60 SCIENCE OP SPEECH 6. Throughout language of authority. " Depart ! Depart, O child Of Israel, from the temple of thy God, For he has smote thee with his chastening rod, And to the desert wild, From all thou lov'st, away thy feet must flee, That from thy plague his people may be free. " " The Angel answered, with unruffled brow, ' Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester, thou Henceforth shall wear the bells and scalloped cape. And for thy counsellor shalt lead an ape ; Thou shalt obey my servants when they call, And wait upon my henchmen in the hall! ' " '• You will not, boy ! you dare not answer thus ! But in my time a father's word was law, And so it shall be now for me. Look to it; Consider, William : take a month to think. And let me have an answer to my wish; Or by the Lord that made me, you shall pack, And nevermore darken my doors again." "The unknown rider reins his steed back on his haunches, right in the path of these broad-shouldered militia-men . ' Now, cowards, advance another step and I'll strike you to the heart I What I are you Americans, men, and fly before British soldiers ? Back again, and face them once more, or I myself will ride you down ! ' " " She murmured a psalm from her Bible ; but closer the young girl pressed, With the last of her life in her fingers, the cross to her breast. ♦ My son, come away, ' cried the mother, her voice cruel grown. FALLING SLIDES 61 ' She 18 joined to her idols, like Ephraim ; let her alone ! ' " 7. In utterance of gloomy emotions, complaint- O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chas- ten me in thy hot displeasure . Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am weak ; O Lord, heal me for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed; but thou, O Lord, how long ? Eeturn, O Lord, deliver my soul : Oh save me for thy mercies' sake . I am weary with my groaning ; all night make I my bed to swim . I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of my grief ; It waxeth old because of all mine enemies. Psdm VL Awful is the duel between Man and the Age in which he lives ! For the gain of posterity this inventor, Adam Warner, had martyrized existence — and the children had pelted him as he passed along the streets ! Again he paced restlessly to and fro thenarrow'floor of his room. At last he approached the Model — the model of a mighty and stupendous invention ; the fruit of no chimerical and visionary science — a great Promethean Thing, that, once matured, would divide the Old Worli from the New, enter into all operations of Labor, animate all future affairs, color all the practical doctrines, of active men . He paused before it and addressed it as if it heard and understood him '■ " My hair was dark, and my tread was firm, when one night, a Thought passed into my soul — a thought to make Matter the gigantic slave of Mind. Out of this thought, thou, not yet bom after five-and-twen- ty years of travail, wert conceived . My coffers were then full, and my name honored; and the rich respected me and the poor loved me . Art thou a devil that has tempted 62 SCIENCE OF SPEECH me to ruin ; or a god that has lifted me above the earth ? 1 am old before my time — my hair is blanched, my frame is bowed, my wealth is gone, my name is sullied . And all^ dumb Idol of Iron and the Element, all for thee 1 I had a wife whom I adored — ■ she died; I forgot her loss in the hope of thy life. I have a child still — God forgive me — she is less dear to me than thou hast been . And now — " the old man ceased abruptly, and folding his arms, looked at the deaf iron sternly, as on a human foe . By his side was a huge hammer, employed in the toils of his forge ; suddenly he seized and swung it aloft. One blow and the labor of years was shattered into pieces! One blow I — but his heart failed him, and'tlie hammer fell heavily to the ground, "Ay!" he muttered, "true — true; if thou who hast destroyed all else, wert destroyed too, what were left me ? Is it a crime to murder Man ? — a greater crime to murder Thought, which is the life of all men . Come — I forgive thee ! " And all that day, and all that night the Enthusiast labored in his chamber, and the next day the remembrance of the hootings, the peltings, the mob, was gone — clean gone from his breast. The Model began to move — life hovered over its wheels, and the Martyr of Science had forgotten the very world for which he, groaning and rejoicing, toiled. "The Despondent Inventor." E. Bulwer Lytton. " 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 ! We know when moons shall wane, When summer birds from far shall cross the sea, When autumn's hue shall tinge the golden grain ; But who shall teach us when to look for thee?" FALLING SLIDES 63 8. The baser passions , Cenoi — My friends, I do lament this insane girl Has spoilt the mirth of our festivity . Good night, farewell; I will not make you longer Spectators of our domestic quarrels. Another time. — ( Exeunt all but Cenci'and Beatrice ) My brain is swimming round = Give me a bowl of wine. ( To Beatrice ) Thou painted viper ! Beast that thou art ! Fair and yet terrible 1 I know a charm shall make thee meek and tame . ( Exit Beatrice ) Here, Andrea, Fill up this goblet with Greek wine. I said I would not drink this evening, but I must ; For strange to say, I feel my spirits fail ' With thinking what I have decreed to do. Be thou the resolution of quick youth Within my veins, and manhood's- purpose stern And age's firm, cold, subtle villany; As if thou wert indeed my children's blood Which I did thirst to drink — The charm works well; It must be done, it shall be done, 1 swear. « The Vend . " Shelley. '' What ! you have brought your bride a wreath ? You sly old fox with wrinkled face- — That blade has blood between your teeth. Lie still, lie still ! till I lean o'er And clutch your red blade to the shore. Ha ! ha ! take that, and that, and that ! Ha ! ha ! So through your coward throat The full day shines 1 " 64 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Then John Alden spake, and related the wondrous adventure, From beginning to end, minutely,, just as it happened; How he had seen Priscilla, and how he had sped in his courtship, Only smoothing a little, and softening down her refusal . But when he came at length to the words Priscilla had spoken, Words so tender and cruel: " Why don't you speak for yourself, John ? " Up leaped the Captain of Plymouth, and stamped on the floor till his armor Clang'd on the wall, where it hung, with a sound of sinister omen. Wildly he shouted, and loud : " John Alden I you have betrayed me! Me, Miles Standish, your friend ! have supplanted, defraud- ed, betrayed me I One of my ancestors ran his sword through the heart of Wat Tyler: Yours is the greater treason, for yours is a treason to friendship 1 You, who lived under my roof, whom I cherished and loved as a brother : You, who have fed at my board, and drunk at my cup, to whose keeping I have intrusted my honor, my thoughts the most sacred and secret — You too, Brutus ! ah woe to the name of friendship hereafter ! Brutus was Caesar's friend, and you were mine, but hence- forward Let there be nothing between us save war, and implacable hatred I " Thx QniHship of Miies ^ndJiah." Longfellow , FALLING SLIDES 65 9 The falling slides are used on important words to give life and vividness to description. Everybody knows, in our part of the world at least, how pleasant and soft the fall of the land is round about Plover's Barrows farm . All above it is strong dark moun- tain, spread with heath, and desolate ; but nearer our house the valleys cove, and open warmth and shelter . Here are trees, and bright green grass, and orchards full of content- ment ; and a man may scarce espy the brook, although he hears it everywhere. And indeed a stout good piece of it comes through our farmyard, and swells sometimes to a rush of waves, when the clpuds are on the fiilltops . But all below where the valley bends, and the Lynn stream goes along with it, pretty meadows slope their breast, and the eun spreads on the water , To awake as the summer sun came slanting over the hilltops, with hope on every beam adance to the laughter of the morning; to see the leaves across the window ruffling on the fresh new air, and the tendrils of the powdery vine turning from their beaded sleep . Then the lustrous mead- ows far beyond the thatch of the garden wall, yet seen beneath the hanging scallops of the walnut tree, all awak- ening, dressed in pearl, all amazed at their own glistening, like a maid at her own ideas . " Lorna Doone. " Blackmore. " The castled crag of Drachenfela Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, Whose breast of waters broadly swells Between the banks that bear the vine. And hills all rich with blossomed trees. And fields which promise com and wine. And scattered cities crowning these. Whose far white walls along them shine.'* 66 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXX. Law of Circumflex ■ — Rising and Falling Slides, while diametrically opposed in significance, are sometimes united in a single word, having a mixed or double meaning, the more important idea prevailing, ending and naming the Circumflex, thus ; Rising and Falling. The Circumflex, like other inflections, as to their use may be classified as 1. Those which serve a purpose in a logged sense, where the meaning is either implied or expressed. 2. Used to manifest emotion. When any wotd is introduced which suggests an anr tithesis without openly expressing it, it should have a circumflex. An affirmative or positive clause takes a falling wave. A negative or doubtful clause takes arising circumflex on the word suggesting the antithesis. Examples of affirmative or positive clauses — " Swear priests and cowards, and men cavMous, Old feeble carrwns and such suffering souls That welcome wrongs : unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise, Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance Did need an oath . " " You say you are a better soldier ; Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true And it shall please me well . For mine own part I shall be glad to learn of noble men . " Examples of negative and doubtful expressions— ^ CIRCUMFLEX 67 But it is doubtful yet, "Whether Caesar will come forth to-day, or no ; For he is supergtttiom grown of late. Quite from the main opinion he held once Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies : It may he, these apparent prodigies, The unaccustom'd terror of this night, And the persuasion of his augurers, May hold him from the Capitol to-day . ''Julius CcBsar." Swkespeare. " Justice is not a hcdt and miseraMe object ; it is not the ineffective bauble of an Indian Paged; it is not the porten- tous phantom of despair ; it is not like any f Med monster formed in the eclipse of reason and found in some unhal- lowed grove of superstitious darkness and political dismay . No, my Lords, Justice resembles none of these ! " When words are antithical in meaning, and emphatic, the falling circumflex should be used on the positive and the rising on the negative . Examples — " We live in deeds, not years, — in thoughts, not breath ; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, who thinks the most, — feels the noblest, — acts the best. " " Look, what thy soul holds dear, imagine it To lie that way thou go'st, not whence thou com'st ; Suppose the singing birds, musicians, The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd. The flowers, fair ladies, and thy steps, no more Than a delightful measure or a dance ; For gnarljng sorrow hath less power to bite The man that mocks at it and sets it light. " 68 SCIENCE OF SPEECH The Circumflex is used in expressions having a double meaning, where the words say one thing while the slides of the voice give an opposite meaning. The Circumflex is also employed in emotions of Sur- prise, Scorn, Contempt, Reproach. Strong, emphatic emotions and passions such as great contempt, reproach, withering sarcasm, irony, mockery require a double Circumflex called the Wave . Examples of Emotions with Circumflex and Wave — BUKPEISE . " He knows me, " said Scrooge, with his hand already on the dining-room look. " I'll go in here, my dear." «' Why, bless my soul! " cried Fred, « who's that? " " It's I . Your uncle Scrooge - I have come to dinner . Will you let me in, Fred? " Let him in 1 It is a mercy he didn't shake his arm off. He was at home in flve minutes. His niece looked just the same. So did Topper when he came . So did the plump sister when she came . So did every one when they came. Wonderful party, wonderful games, won-der-ful happiness. " Ji Girislmas Carol . " Didcetis . Schneider I Schneider ! What's the matter with Schneider? Something must have scared that dog . Well, I — no — Schneider 1 No; whatever it is, it's on two lep . Why, what a funny thing is that a coming up the hill? I thought nobody but me ever came nigh this place. What? What's the matter ? Ain't ye goin' to speak to a feller? I don't want to speak to you, then. Who you think you was, that I want to speak to you, any more than you want to speak to me ; you hear what I say? He must be an old sea-snake, I reckon. «' Bip Van Wtnkk. " Joseph Jefferson,' DOUBLE WAVE 69 SCORN . And the Philistine said unto David, " Am I a dog, that thou comest unto me with stones? " And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. " Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the name of the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defiled . This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand ; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee, and 1 will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel. " 1 Samuel VII- Do you think to frighten me? you I by reminding me of the solitude of this place, and there being no help near? Me, who am here alone designedly? If I feared you 'should I not have avoided you ? If I feared you, should I be here, in the dead of night, telling you to your face what I am going to tell ? I have something lying here that is no love trinket ; and sooner than endure your touch once more, I would use it on you^ — and you know it, while I speak — with less reluctance than I would on any other creeping thing that lives - We are face to face for the last time. Wretch ! we meet to-night, and part to- night . For not one moment after I have ceased to speak will I stay here ! See these ! You have addressed these to me in the false name you go by . The seals are unbro. ken . Take them back ! I single out in you the meanest man I know . You know how you came here to-night Lastly, take my warning ! You have been betrayed . Edith Drnnbey, " Domhey and Son. " Bicken?. 70 SCIENCE OF SPEECH CONTEMPT . King — Where is Polonius? HanHfil — In heaven: send thither to see: if your messenger find him not there, seek him i' the other place yourself. But indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go by the stairs into the lobby. Bagganto — If it please you dine with us . Shylodc — Yes, to smell pork ; to eat of the habitation which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the Devil into . I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. BEPBOACH , Queen — O, what a rash and bloody deed is this I Hamlet — A bloody deed I almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother . " And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying ' Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself . If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross . ' " IBONY . Cry aloud; for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradveuture he sleepeth, and must be awakened . " But you are very wise men, and deeply learned in the truth; we are weak, contemptible, mean persons. " « Thy integrity got thee absolved ; thy modesty drew thee out of danger; and the innocency of thy past life EMPHATIC SLIDES 71 saved thee ; for you meant no harm : oh, no : your thoughts are innocent; you have nothing to hide; your breast is pure, stainless, all truth ." And Job answered and said, " No doubt but ye are the people^ And wisdom shall die with you. But I have understanding as well as you, I am not inferior to you ; yea, who Knoweth not such things as these? " J06X/J. 1-4. MOCKERY ; " Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans mark him, and write his speeches in their books, alas, it cried, ' Give me some drink, Titinius, ' like a sick girl. " " You come to me, and you say, ' Shylock, we would have moneys : ' you say so ! What should I say to you? Should I not say ' Hath a dog money? is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats? ' Or Say this : ' Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; You spurn'd me such a day; another time You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies ril lend you thus much moneys? ' " Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers. They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs ; A group of tittering pages ran before. And as they opened wide the folding-door. His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms. The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms, And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring With the mock plaudits of " Long live the King ! " " E%ng Robert of Sicily. " Longfellow. 72. iiCIENCE OF SPEECH XXXI. Law of Conversational Slides . — /« ordina- ry utterance, conversational slides cute used, which pass through one interval of the scale. In stronz assertions, doubting or surprised interrogation and emotional lan- guage, the slides become emphatic and occasionally cover a whole octave. Examples of Conversational Slides — Of course it became a serious duty now, to make such a day of it, as should mark these events for a high Feast and Festival in the Perrybingle Calendar for evermore . Accordingly, Dot went to work to produce such an enter- tainment, as should reflect undying honor on the house and on every one concerned ; and in a very short space of time she was up to her dimpled elbows in flour, and whiten- ing the Carrier's coat, every time he came near her by stopping him to give him a kiss . That good fellow washed the greens, and peeled the turnips, and broke the plates and upset iron pots full of cold water on the fire, and made himself useful in all sorts of ways : while a couple of assist- ants, hastily called in from somewhere in the neighborhood, as on a point of life or death, ran against each other in all the doorways and round all the corners, and every- bod y tumbled over Tilly Slowboy and the baby, everywhere . I wouldn't have missed Dot, doing the honors in her wedding-gown, nor the good Carrier so jovial at the bottom of the table- Nor the brown, fresh sailor-fellow and his handsome wife. Nor anyone among them. To have missed the dinner would have been to miss as jolly and as stout a meal as man need eat ; and to have missed the overflowing cups in which thy drank The Wedding- Day, would have been the greatest miss of all. •' Tht Cricket On The Hearth . " Dideetw CADENCE 73 XXXII, Law of Cadence. — Closing syllables of a sentence should be produced in a manner agreeable to the ear, avoiding similarity in the ending of successive sentences . Note 1 . — Cadence may occur upon one, two or three syllables or notes, and the forms are called respec- tively monad, duad and triad . Note 2. — The closing of any reading or address should be so marked by inflections as to suggest the finish ; a stepping down and out with a graceful leave taking. " Cadence is the rhythmical modulation of the voice as in reading verse . " " The conclusion of a strain or of a musical period or passage; the principal point of rest in an harmonic progression : — An embellishment at the end of a piece." The student will find the natural cadences under the guidance of the thought and feeling in the following Examples — « Well, then, I'll tell you what I'll do with you . I'll heap 'em all on the footboard of the cart, — there they are ! razors, flat-iron, fryingpan, chronometer watch, dinner- plates, rolling-pin, and looking-glass, — take 'em all away for four shillings, and I'll give you sixpence for your trouble!" " O comrades ! warriors ! Thracians ! — if we must fight, let us fight, for ourselves ! If we must slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors ! If we must die, let it be under the clear sky, by the bright waters in noble, honorable, battle!" •• Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever ; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long; And so make life, death, and that vast forever, One grand, sweet song . " 74 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XATXHI. Law of Force.— Force ts strength of tone ) it should not be uniform through utterance but varying with the constantly changing sentiments. The Elements of Force include Degree of Force, Form and Stress. XXXIV. Law of Heavy Farce . — When the idea is that of strength or power, as in grandeur, firm re- solve, intensity of feeling, shouting, calling, defiance, anger and in all bold, noble, dignified, energetic, vehe- ment or in declamatory utterances, Heavy Force is demanded. Note —The Law of Mental Grasp (XVII, Page 25) should be carefully observed in the use of Heavy Force . Loudness requires Vocal Force but Intensity of thought Dynamic Force . Examples of Heavy Force — " Behold the condemned Claudius, and Cynthia, whom he lately took for his wife . They are condemned to death for the great folly of Claudius, that the Roman people may know that Commodus reigns supreme. The crime for which they are to die is a great one . Claudius has public- ly proclaimed that he is a better archer than I, Commodus, am . I am the Emperor and the incomparable archer of Rome. Whoever disputes it dies and his wife dies with him. It is decreed." The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put ofE longer the Decla- ration of Independence? That measure will strengthen us . Read this Declaration at the head of the army ; every sword wiU be drawn from its scabbard and the solemn vow HEAVY FORCE 75 uttered to maintain it or perish on the bed of honor. Pub- lish it from the pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round it, resolve to stand with it, or fall with it . Send it to the public halls, pro- claim it there; let them hear it who first heard the roar of the enemy's cannon: let them see it who saw their brothers and sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, — and the very walls will cry out in its support. " Supposed Speech of John Adarm . " Fieftater . The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the Lord of glory thundereth : the Lord is upon many waters . The voice of the Lord is powerful ; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty . The voice of the Lord breaketh the ce- dars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf ", Lebanon and Sirion like a young imicom . The voice of the Lord divideth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilder- ness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh . The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and disco v- ereth the forests : and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lordsitteth King forever. Description of a Thwnder-Storm . Psalms XXIX . Oh ! woe to you, ye gardens in the tender light of May ! Look on these ghastly features, this senseless, breathless clay. Look, and, beholding, wither ; strike all your fountains dumb, lie desolate and barren through all the years, to come ! Woe, woe to thee, assassin ! thou curse of minstrelsy ! Vain, vain shall all thy striving for bloody glory be, thy name shall be forgotten, lost in eternal doom, as dies the last death-rattle, breathed into empty gloom ! « The Minstrels Curse, " Helen Herbert. 76 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXXV . Law of Gentle Force . — In passages subdued, tender, ^ave and pathetic, in awe and rev- erence, in gentle melancholy and plaintive emotions, Gentle Force is required. Examples of Gentle Force — " Sleep, sleep — the south wind blows, Hocking the bee in the thornless rose, The baby birds have gone to bed, The drowsy blue-bell hangs its head ; Blue- bell and baby, bee and rose. Sleep, the south wind softly blows. The tide ebbs, the tide flows, Night comes, but Jiight goes. Sleep! Sleep I " And then straightway before My tearless eyes, all vividly, waf! wrought A vision that is with me evermore ; A little girl that lies asleep, nor hears Nor heeds not any voice, or fall of tears — And I sit sighing o'er and o'er and o'er, — " God called her in from him and shut the dooor ! " « He Called Her In, " Riley. " Around this lovely valley rise The purple hills of Paradise . Oh, softly on yon banks of haze Her rosy face the summer lays I Becalmed along the azure sky. The argosies of cloudland lie, Whose shores, with many a shining rift, Far off their pearl-white peaks uplift . " " I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep : for thou, Lord, only, makest me dwell in safely. " FORMS OF SPEECH 11 XXXVI- Law of Form. — The Form of Force varies in speech, being Natural, Expulsive or Explosive . XXXVII . Law of Effusive . — Sentiment plaintive, pathetic, beautiful, solemn or reverential takes a gen- tle breathed Effusive Form.. Examples of Effusive Form — " Farewell ! " said he, " Minnehaha! Farewell, O my Laughing Water ! All my heart is buried with you, All my thoughts go onward with you ! Come not back again to labor. Come not back again to suffer, Where the Famine and the Fever Wear the heart and waste the body . Soon my task will be completed, Soon your footsteps I shall follow To the Islands of the Blessed, To the Kingdom of Ponemah, To the land of the Hereafter! " « The. Famine . " Longfellow Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him , For he knoweth our frame ; he re- membereth that we are dust . As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth; for the wind paaseth over it, and it is gone; and the place there- of shall know it no more. Psalms C/7/, 13-16. " So hush, — I will give you this leaf to keep ; See, I shut it inside the sweet, cold hand ! There, that is our secret ; go to sleep 1 You will wake and remember, and understand. " 78 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XXXVIII. Law of Expulsive . — Forcible, earnest, determined or impassioned language requires a vigor- ous Expulsive Form. Examples of Expulsive Form — " For. 'tis you have blown this coal 'twixt my lord and me." " Let no one dare when I am dead to charge me with dishonor . " " Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France, Charge for the golden lilies, upon them with the lance . " XXXIX. Law of Explosive . — Vehement language, intense passion, startling passages of powerful descrip- tion employ an abrupt, explosive force . Examples of Explosive Form — " Ye gods ! ye gods I must I endure all this? " " Up with your ladders ! Quick I 'tis but a chance ! Behold, how fast the roaring flames advance! Quick ! quick ! brave spirits, to his rescue fly ; Up ! up ! by heavens, this hero must not die ! " " I do not rise to waste the night in words; Let that Plebeian talk ; 'tis not my trade; But here I stand for right, — let him show proofs, — For Eoman right; though none, it seems, dare stand To take their share with me. Ay, cluster there/ Cling to your master, judges, Romans, slaves ! His charge is false; I dare him to his proofs. " " ' Halt I 'the dust-brown rank stood fast. ' Fire 1 ' out blazed the rifle blast. " STRESS 79 XL . Zmw of stress . — To words and parts ofwotds Force may be applied in six -different ways, named. Initial, Final, Median, Compound, Thorough and Tremulous Stress. Note . — As the stress comes mainly on the accorded vowd in the important word in any of the forms used, no attempt will be made here to indicate in the following examples the exact point of the stroke or stress . Atten- tion to the thought and fervor of feeling is a trustworthy guide, after a clear understanding of the use of the differ- ent forms of stress . A study of these forms of stress is to the student of Expression as a mastery of the graces in music to the Musician . Careful drill is the cost, to be able to use the proper stress skillfully . The thought and feeling will aid in giving to the expression its true ring. XLI. Law of Initial Stress. — To give energy and brilliancy to speech in all animated, energetic ex- pression the vowels should be struck with a sharp, per- cussive force, termed Initial Stress . " The guests were seated here and there On silken lounge and damask chair. And 'mid the din of laugh and song Soft words were whispered in the throng, And tender eyes a tale expressed. Which tongue had never yet confessed. " The thrush sings high on the topmost bough, — Low, louder, low again; and now He has changed his tree, — you know not how, For you saw no flutter of wing. "7%e2%rMsA.» Bill. 80 SCIENCE OF SPEECH XLII. Law of Final Stress.— In passages man- ifesting intensity of fixedness of purpose, anger, ccnr tempt, stem rebuke and horror, the vowel sounds are more or less prolonged and Final Stress ^ven in the form of Crescendo. Examples of Final Stress — For the love of them Judah forgot his quarrel. " Help them, O my Messala I Remember our childhood and help them. I — Judah — pray you." Messala affected not to hear. " I cannot be of further use to you, " he said to the oflScer. " There is richer entertainment in the street. Down Eros, up Mara ! "With the last words he disappeared • Judah understood him, and, in the bitterness of his soul, prayed to heaven . *' In the hour of thy vengeance, Lord, be mine the hand to put it upon him I " " Beinr-E.w . " Lew Wallace . " Ye gods, it doth amaze me ! A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world. And bear the palm alone . " Then out spake Miles Standish, the stalwart Captain of Plymouth . " What ! do you mean to make war with the milk and water of roses? Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your howitzer planted there on the roof of the church, or is it to shoot red devils? Truly the only tongue that is understood by a Savage must be the tongue of fire that speaks from the mouth of the cannon . Leave this matter to me for to me by right it pertaineth. War is a terrible trade; but in the cause that is righteous sweet is the smell of powder; and thus I answer the challenge 1 " Then from the rattle^^nake's skin, with a sudden contemptuous gesture STRESS 81 jerking the Indian arrows, he filled it with powder and hul- lets EuU to the very jaws, and handed it back to the savage, saying in thunderous tones, " Here, take it ! this i» your "■nsvierV Longfelhw. XLIII. Law of Median Stress. — In passages of sublimity, grandeur, great solemnity, awe, reverence or veneration, the voice should take a deep, rich quality with a swell on the middle of the vowel, called Median Stress. Examples of Median Stress — (Voice of the people ,) The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee ; send thee help from the Sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion ; remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice ; grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel . ( Voice of the army.) We will rejoice in thy salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our banners ; the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. ( Voice of the priest . ) Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed ; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand . ( Voice of army with enemy visible. ) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we will remember the name of the Lord , our God . They are brought down and fallen ; but we are risen, and stand upright . Save Lord ; let the king hear us when we call . Battle Song. Psalms, XX, Toll ! Roland, toll ! Ring out across the sea ! No longer, they, but we, have now such need of thee ! Toll ! Roland, toll ! nor ever let thy throat Keep dumb its warning note till freedom's perils be outbraved i 82 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Floy, come close to me, and let me see you . How fast the river runs, between its green banks and the rushes, Floy ! but it's very near the sea now — I hear the waves ! they always said so 1 " Presently he told her that the motion of the boat upon the stream was lulling him to rest. Who stood on the bank ? " Mamma is like you, Floy. I know her by the face . The light about the head is shining on me as I go . " The golden ripple on the wall came back again, and no- thing else stirred in the room . The old, old fashion I The fashion that came in with our first garments, and will last unchanged until our race has run its course, and the wide firmament is rolled up like a scroll. The old, old fashion, Death ! O, thank God, all who see it for that older fash- ion yet, of Immortality ! And look upon us Angels of young children with regards not quite estranged, when the swift river bears ua to the sea . Littfo Domhey, from " Dombey and Son . " Dickem. XLIV. Law of Compound Stress. — In reproach, determination, intense surprise, contempt, withering scorn or violent interrogation, Compound Stress is used. Examples of Compound Stress — " Thou, my once lov'd, valu'd friend! By heaVn thou li'st ; the man so call'd my friend, Was generous honest, faithful, just and valiant ; Noble in his mind, and in his person lovely; Dear to my eyes, and tender to my heart : But thou, a wretched, base, false, worthless coward, Poor even in soul, and loathsome in thy aspect ; All eyes must shun thee, and all hearts detest thee. Prithee avoid, nor longer cling thus round me, Like something baneful, that my nature's chill'd at." STRESS 83 THE WAR-PATH OF THE DOONES. I could keep still no longer, but wriggled away from his arm, and along the little gullet, still going flat on my breast and thighs, until I was under a gray patch of stone with a fringe of dry fern round it ; there I lay, scarce twen- ty feet above the heads of the riders, and I feared to draw my breath, though prone to do it with wonder. For now the beacon was rushing up, in a fiery storm to heaven, and the form of its flame came and went in the folds, and the heavy sky was hovering . But most of all the flinging fire leaped into the rocky mouth of the glen below me, where the horsemen passed in silence, scarcely deigning to look round . Heavy men and large of stature, reckless how they bore their guns, or how they sat their horses, with leathern jerkins, and long boots, and iron plates on breast and head, plunder heaped behind their saddles, and flagons slung in front of them ; more than thirty went along, like clouds upon red sunset . Some had carcasses of sheep slinging with their skins on, others had deer, and one had a child flung across his saddle-bow. Whether the child were dead or ahve, was beyond my vision, only it hung head down- ward there, and must take the chance of it. They had got the child, a very young one, for the sake of the dress, no doubt, which they could not stop to pull off from it ; for the dress shone bright, where the fire struck it, as if with gold and jewels . I longed in my heart to know most sadly what they would do with the little thing, and wheth- er they would eat it . It touched me so to see that child, a prey among those vultures, that in my foolish rage and burning I stood up and shouted to them, leaping on a rock, and raving out of all possession. Two of them turned round, and one set his carbine at me, but the other said it was but a pixie, and 84 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Little (key knew, that ike pixie then before them wouM dance tkeir castle down one day. " 1 orna Dovne . " Blackmore XLV. Law of Thorough Stress— In bold com- mand, fearlessness, exultation, denunciation or bragga- docio. Thorough Stress, an abrupt heavy force through- out the vowel, is employed. Examples of Thorough Stress — Macbeth — Hownowjou secret, black, and midnight hags I What ist you do? I conjure you, by that which you profess, Howe'er you came to know it, answer me : Though you untie the winds, and let them fight Against the churches; though the yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up; Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their warders' heads; Though palaces and pyramids do slope Their heads to their foundations: though the treasure Cf nature 8 germens tumble all together, Even till destruction sicken ; answer me To what I ask you . " Ma/ibeth. " Shakespeare. Weel, then 1 what I say 's this, — Dang my bones and body, if I Stan' this ony longer. Do you gang whoam wi, me ; and do you loight an toight young whipster look sharp out for a broken head, next time he cums under my bond. Cum whoam, tell 'ee, cum whoam ! John Brffwdie in " JVicholas J^tcMeby . " Dkkens. TREMULOUS STRESS 85 Coriolanus — The fires i' the lowest hell fold-in the people ! Call me their traitor ! Thou injurious tribune ! Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths, In thy hands clutch'd as many millions, in Thy lying tongue both numbers, I would say ' Thou liest ' unto thee with a voice as free As 1 do pray the gods. Shakespeare . XLVI. Law of Tremulous Stress . — In laughter, joy, suppressed excitement, fear, extreme pathos, gtief and pity, in the broken voice of sorrow or the trem- bling accents of old age, we find the Tremulous or Intermittent Stress. Note — The student should use carefully this form of stress as it is likely to be merely a cold, mental pathos or mock laughter, producing in the listener the op- posite impression from that intended . When a speaker sheds tears his listeners forget what he is talking about and pity him. When he pretends to shed tears they laugh at him . Avoid giving pathos a whine, as this leaves an irritating and undesirable impression. There seems to be one safe way to reach the proper result with Tremulous Stress, that is, to be so impressed by the emotion as to strug- gle for its control. If once the feeling breaks, you have "lost your powder. " Delsarte has given some helpful suggestions concerning the management of the breath . " Inspiration is a sign of grief. Expiration is a sign of tenderness . Sorrow is inspiratory; happiness expiratory. 86 SCIENCE OF SPEECH The inspiratory act expresses sorrow.dissimulation. The expiratory act expresses love, expansion . The suspeosatory act expresses reticence and disqui- etude . A child who has just been corrected deservedly and who recognizes his fault, expires . Another corrected unjustly, and who feels more grief than love, inspires . A cr2/ is a prolonged exclamation . A giroore- plaintive, two succeeding tones, one sharp, the final one deep . Lamemiation, voice loud, plaintive, despairing, obstinate, indicating a heart which can neither contain nor restrain itself. Sd), succession of sounds produced by continuous inspi- rations, convulsive ending in a long, violent inspiration . Sigh, weak, low tone, quick inspiration followed by a slow and deep expiration . Laugh, loud, quick, monotonous sounds, uninterrupted series of slight expirations, rapid somewhat convulsive, pro- duced by deep inspiration . " Examples of Tremulous Stress — Pauline — Alas 1 1 have shown too much The rashness of a woman : he is touched To the noble heart , What's done and what's past help Should be past grief ; do not receive affliction at my petition . i eonXxB — Prithee bring me To the dead bodies of my queen and son ; One grave shall be for both, upon them shall The causes of their death appear, unto Our shame perpetual . Once a day I'll visit The chapel where they lie, and tears shed there Shall be my recreation; so long as nature TREMULOUS STRESS 87 Will hear up with this exercise, so long I daily vow to use it . Come and lead me Unto these sorrows . "The Winter's Tale." Shakespewre. " But what a strange transformation was there I The wrinkles were gone. The traces of age, and pain, and weariness were all smoothed out; the face had grown strangely young, and a placid smile was on the pale lips . The old man was awed by the likeness to the bride of his youth . He kissed the unresponsive lips, and said softly : ' You've found heaven first, Janet, but you'll come for me soon . It's our first parting in over seventy years, but it won't be for long — it won't be for long . ' And it was not. The winter snows have not fallen, and to-day would have been their diamond wedding. " Ouf ! I leaned out of the window for fresh air. There came a hurry of feet and little feet, A sweep of lute-strings, laughs and whifts of song, — " Flower o' the broom. Take away love, and our earth is a tomb I Flower o' the quince, I let Lisa go, and what good in life since ? Flower o' the thyme " — and so on . Bound they went. Scarce had they turned the corner when a titter Like the skipping of rabbits by moonlight, — three slim shapes, And a face that looked up zooks, sir, fiesh and blood That's all I'm made of ! Into shreds it went. Curtain and counterpane and coverlet, All the bed-f urniture — a dozen knots. There was a ladder! Down I let myself. 88 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Hands and feet, scrambling somehow, and so dropped And after them. I came up with the fun Hard by Saint Lawrence, hail fellow, well met, — " Flower o' the rose, If I've been merry, what matter who knows? " « Fra ifppo L%»i. " Bfihert Browning. In shirt of check and tallowed hair. The fiddler sits in the buUrush chair Like Moses' basket stranded there On the brink of Father Nile. "Money Musk. " Taylor. " A fool, a fool ! — I met a fool i' the forest, A motley fool ; — a miserable world 1 — As I do live by food, I met a fool; Who laid him down and bask'd in the sun. And railed on lady Fortune in good terms. In good set terms, — and yet a motley fool. " XLVII. Law of Time. — Time in speech includes 1 . Quantity, or time e^ven to a word. 2. Rate, or time given to a sentence. 3. Pause, or time between words. XLVIII. Law of , Quantity , Rate, and Pause. — Light, joyous, animated, genial, exalted, impassioned and vehement language ; hate, fear, terror, indignation, and mirth demand a corresponding vivacity of utter- ance — Short Quantity, Fast Rate, and Short Pause . Majesty, power, dignity, grandeur, vastness, solemn nity, sublimity, adoration, warning, reverence, grief, veneration, horror, awe, deliberation, solemn delibefa- tion, solemn denunciation, melancholy and despair— PAUSE 89 being slow-moving emotions — call for Long Quantity, Slow Rate and Long Pause. XLIX. Law of Poetic Pause. — In poetry or blank verse we should by pauses slightly mark the rhythm and the lines, but not sufficiently to interfere with the grammatical structure or to express too clearly the idea of verse. This is Poetic Pause. Note — He is a poor reader who observes Poetic Pause in so marked a degree as to employe sing-song tone, or to so neglect it as to read verse exactly like prose . Examples where the sense allows a slight marking of the Poetic Pause — Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful jollity, Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, Ni)ds, and becks and wreathed smiles Such as hang on Hebe's cheek. And love to live in dimple sleek ; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe. *L' Allegro." Milton. Softly the moonlight is shed on the lake Cool is the summer night, — wake ! O, awake ! Faintly the curfew is heard from afar. List ye! O, list to the lively guitar. Now the wind rises and ruffles the pine, Bipples foam-crested like diamonds shine. They flash where the waters the white pebbles lave. In the wake of the moon as it crosses the wave . " Serenade. " James . Perdvai , 90 SCIENCE. OF SPEECH Examples of verse to be rendered much like Prose — I'm President, Cashier, and Board of quite a wealthy bank, With none except myself to please — and no one else to thank, But nothing makes my heart beat fast — and I am grow- ing old. With not a thing to love or leave except this pile of gold . But I have learned a thing or two : I know as sure as fate, When we lock up our lives for wealth, the gold key comes too late; And that I'm poorer now than through those happy days in which I owned a heart, and did not knowthati had struck it rich I « The Miner's Story. " Will Carlton. " So Michael the baby had his way. And hammered and chipped, and would not play With the simple and senseless sort of toys That pleased the rest of the village boys. They laughed at the little churches he Would daily build at his nurse's knee: They scouted the pictures that he drew On the smooth, white slab with a coal or two; They taunted and teased him when he tried To mould from the rubbish cast aside Bude figures, and screamed ' Scultori I ' when His bits of marble he shaped like men. " L. Law of Rhetotical Pauses . — Rhetorical Pauses, sometimes long and sometimes almost imperceptible, are used to give a clear appreciation of the meaning. They are pauses required by the sense, but not by the grammatical construction, hence are not indicated by marks of punctuation , RHETORICAL PAUSES 91 Principles to observe in the use of Rhetorical Pauses. 1 . Separate the logical subject and predicate by a pause, and, when emphatic, the grammatical subject and predicate . 2. A pause should usually be made after an emphatic word to fix it firmly in the mind, ( Some' times it occms jtist before to arouse expectation, and is then known as the Suspensive Pause . ) J. A pause is required when the connection of ideas is not close ; as in parenthetical expressions, trans- positions, ellipses, separate and explanatory clauses, etc. , — also in hesitation and interruptions. 4. Abrupt, Long Pauses often accompanyShort Quantity and Fast Rate in breathless dramatic expres- sion. LI. Law of Grammatical Pauses . — Grammatical Pauses are indicated by the ordinary marks of punctu- ation, and are simply to show grammatical structure and relations . The sense must determine whether or not the voice should observe them . LII. Law of Style. — All language must be uttered in its appropriate Style, which may be Conversational Oratorical, or Dramatic. Studies in Pause or Ellipse and the Conversational, Oratorical and Dramatic (Styles wiU be found treated more fully in « The Art of Rendering. " 92 SCIENCE OF SPEECH LIII. Lav, of Conversational Style. — Simple narration, description and all direct utteranc e when unemotional must be given in a purely Conversational style with appropriate force, whether read or spoken to few individuals or many . Examples of Conversational Selections — AUNT BETSY. Dear me ! When we think of what we might do and don't do — of the opportunities we neglect — we have great cause to reproach ourselves . I'm very, very sorry that youthful levity caused me to refuse the hand of Mr, Melancthon Gypsum when I was a girl. I objected to him because he had warts on his nose, and was crose-eyed. What a silly young creature I was, to be sure I Smh an opportunity! Why, you know him, dear. It is the Dr. Gypsum who is paying attention to widow Potkins now. He has found five partners to share his labors. Why, you shocking girl! No he's not a Mormon. He's had the misfortune to lose five wives . Ifiat's nothing to smile at I'm sure! When he proposed to me I was a mere child . He told me he was well aware that no woman's constitution would stand the climate he was going to more than two years. He was then twenty-one, and expected to stay abroad until he was forty, so he would have nine or ten wives at least during his sojourn in that foreign land, and I suppose he thought it was my duty to be the first one. He didn't look for happiness in this wicked world, he said, and he hoped I didn't either. But, as I said, I was frivolous at the time. The first Mrs , Gypsum lived two years . I've read her biography . The natives treated her dreadfully . She was just eighteen when she left this world. CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 93 Ah 1 -when I called at the parsonage the other day I saw the portraits of Dr. Gypsum's wives, all iu a row : Clarisse Gypsum, aged eighteen; Maria Gypsum, aged twenty ; Martha Gypsum, aged seventeen ( she died on the voyage over ) ; Sarah Gypsum, aged twenty-four, and Amelia Gypsum, who lived to te forty. She was a widow when the Doctor married her, and the only one of his wives that knew how to manage natives. Mr. Gypsum came home one day and found her driving two of 'em about harnessed to a little basket carriage. They thought it was their duty ; she'd told 'em 'twas . Mr . Gypsum didn't like it, but Jthink it was right smart of her. don't you ? They fried her in slices at last, I'm told, and offered her to a big stone idol with three noses, that they thought all the world of . All of 'em came to some violent end, but the one that died going over ; and two or three of the little babies were carried ofE, and maybe are worshiping idols now, for all we know about them . Dear me I have seen the biographies of the five wives, all in blue and gold, with a portrait on the first page . Ah ! if I hadnt been so frivolous, mine might have been among 'em . There isn't one so good-looking as I am, and how proud I should have been of it , to be sure . But tha's the way with young girls; they can't see what's best for 'em. Maey Kyle Dallas. ALONG THE BEACH I will be quiet and talk with you. And reason why you are wrong. You wanted my love — is that much true? And so I did love, so I do : What has come of it all along? 94 SCIENCE OF SPEECH I took you — how could I otherwise? For a world to me, and more ; For all, love greatens and glorifies Till God's a-glow to the loving eyes, In what was mere earth before . Yes, earth — yes, mere ignoble earth ! Now do I misstate, mistake ? Do I wrong your weakness and call it worth ? Expect all harvest, dread no dearth, Seal my sense up for your sake? O Love, Love, no. Love ! not so, indeed You were just weak earth, I knew : With much in you waste, with many a weed, And plenty of passions run to seed, But a little good grain too . And such as you were, I took you for mine : Did not you find me yours. To watch the olive and wait the vine, And wonder when rivers of oil and wine Would flow, as the Book assures? Well, if none of these good things came. What did the failure prove ? ■ The man was my whole world, all the same. With his flowers to praise or his weeds to blame. And, either or both, to love . Yet this turns now to a fault — there I there 1 That I do love, watch too long. And wait too well, and weary and wear; And 'tia all an old story, and my despair Fit subject for some new song : CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 96 " How the light, light love, he has wings to fly At suspicion of a bond: My wisdom has bidden your pleasure good-by. Which will turn up next in a laughing eye, And why should you look beyond ? " KoBEKT Browning. DAVID, In a quiet old town in the hills of New Hampshire, Some fifty years since — or it may be three-score — Lived a preacher beloved and revered by his people, Who called him " the Elder " ; nor need we know more. Many years he had led them by purest example. Many years he had fed them with precepts divine ; Had married and buried, baptized and befriended ; Had broken the bread and poured out the wine . So peaceful his life and so healthful his habits. Though sixty, he yet was as straight as a mast, His cheeks like red apples, his laugh ever ready. His hair slick and glossy, though silvering fast. His girls were all married and settled around him. With husbands and children and cares of their own; His sons too had left him for business and college, And he and his wife were now living alone. Alone ; yes, and lonely for lack of the children; The house was so still it was fairly forlorn ; He found the hours heavy when weary of study, When all chopped was the wood and all hoed was the com. His wife had grown feeble, and seldom went with him In the heavy-topped chaise to make calls on the sheep. But in warm afternoons, when her house was in order. Would retire to the bedroom and there fall asleep. 96 SCIENCE OF SPEECH The Elder, deserted, one day fell a^thinking Of David of old, who, when Aw plans went wrong, Could solace his sorrows, forget all his trials, By the aid of sweet music, with harp and with song. " O, could I but do likewise, " the good man reflected, " How swiftly, how smoothly these moments would glide 1 The complaints of my deacons, the lack of my children, The advances of age, I could then well abide . But alas for the harp ! for I never yet saw one; And alas for the songs I for I never could rhyme . A jew's-harp I've mastered, but that can't content me. O David, what woruld you have played in my time? My people would laugh if 1 bought me a fiddle; To flute and bass viol I do not incline ; Too old are my fingers to play on a spinet, Nor could I afford one . I must not repine . " So he stifled his longings and almost forgot them. Till one day to the city on business he went ; And while threading its nlazes, confused by its tumult, " What sweet sounds are these with ita clamor now blent? " Smile not at the rustical ear of the Elder . " 'Tis only a hand-organ, " answered his son And the old man passed on, but his pulses were leaping. And before he went home he had bought himself one Of the best German make, with three separate barrels, And each barrel played for him ten distinct airs Just by turning the handle. O blessed invention 1 He felt it an answer direct to his prayers . No day was no(r long, and no labor seemed tedious, With this fountain of melody ever at hand To pour forth its treasures of soothing refreshment — Au oasis of joy in a dull, prosy land. CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 97 As it made his wife nervous, 't was kept in the garret ( In the rose of his joy this had been the sole thorn ) ; And there, all alone in the brown raftered chamber, 'Mid festoons of dried apple, of sage, and seed-corn. The Elder would sit, when his day's work was over, With a smile on his face as he ground out the air, While the long dusky sunbeams streamed in the west window, Gently touched his broad shoulders and crowned his white hair . 'T was thus he was seen unawares by Miss Kitty, A sweet city maiden betrothed to his son. Who, spending a week on the farm of his daughter. Strolled over to call on the parents of John . 'T was a day in mid- June, and the old-fashioned roses. Deep red and pure white, were in bloom round the door, Which stood frankly open, the cat on the threshold. And a gray braided mat to protect the white floor . Most welcome the coolness and shade of the kitchen : But where was the Elder and where was the dame? Profound was the stillness, save pussy's soft purring. And a similar sound from the bedroom that came . Light tiptoed the maiden through kitchen, past bedroom. To the sitting-room study. No Elder was there. But hark! A sweet sound is now heard in the distance. Bewildered, she follows it, climbs the steep stair, Then gropes her way onward through darkened guest-chambers, And climbs to the garret, still led by the sound. 'T is her favorite waltz ! " Now surely I'm dreaming!" Exclaims pretty Kitty in wonder profound . At the top of the stair she peeps cautiously round her, Half screened by blue " comforters " hung on a line; 98 SCIENCE OF SPEECH And there sat the blessed old saint at his organ. Grinding out dancing music in rapture divine Do you think Kitty laughed as she stood these beholding The simple old man by his organ beguiled, The foreground of blankets, herbs, andirons, and apples. And the clumsy old cradle that held John, a child? No ; she listened in silence, bright tears on her lashes. Till he ceased , Then she crept unsuspected away. And a new love for John and his gentle old father Seemed to grow in her heart from the scene of that day . Lauea D. Nichols. THE MILL. Don't you remember, Lill, The mill by the old hill side. Where we used to go in the summer days And watch the foamy tide ? And throw the leaves of the rocking beech On its surface smooth, and bright ; When they'd float away like emeralds, In a flood of golden light? And the miller,Lill, with his slouchy cap, And eyes of mildest grey; Plodding about his dusty work. Singing the livelong day. And the coat that hung on the rusty nail. With many a motley patch, By the rude old door, with broken sill. And string and wooden latch . And the water-wheel, with its giant arms Dashing the beaded spray. And pulling the weeds from the sand below, CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 99 That it tossed in scorn away . The sleepers, too, bearded and old, Frowning over the tide ; Defying the waves, while the chinks of Time Were made in the old mill's side. Well, Lill, the mill is torn away, And a factory, dark and high. Looms like a tower, and puifs its smoke Over the clear blue sky . And the stream is turned away, above — The bed of the river is bare ; The beech is withered, bough and trunk. And stands like a spectre there . The miller, too has gone to rest ; — He sleeps in the vale below; They made his grave in the winter time, Down where the willows grow . But now the boughs are green again, And the winds are soft and still ; I send you a sprig, to mind you, Lill, Of me, and the rude old mill . M . Elva Wood . CHILD AND BOATMAN. " Martin, I wonder who makes all the songs. " "You do, sir?" " Yes, I wonder how they come. " " Well, boy, I wonder what you'll wonder next ! " " But somebody must make them ? " "Sure enough. " " Does your wife know ? " " She never said she did . " 100 SCIENCE OF SPEECH " You told me that she knew so many things. " " I said that she was a London woman, sir, And a fine scholar, but I never said She knew about the songs . " " I wish she did. " " And I wish no such thing; she knows enough, She knows too much already . Look you now, This vessel's off the stocks, a tidy craft. " " A schooner, Martin ? ," " No, boy, no : a brig. Only she's schooner-rigged, — a lovely craft. " " Is she for me? O, thank you, Martin dear. What shall I call her? " " Well, sir, what you please. " •■ Then write on her ' The Eagle. ' " "Bless the child! Eagle ! why, you know naught of eagles, you . When we lay off the coast, up Canada way, And chanced to be ashore when twilight fell. That was the place for eagles; bald they were. With eyes as yellow as gold , " " O, Martin, dear, Tell me about them . " ■ « Tell 1 there's naught to tell, Only they snored o' nights and frighted us , " "Snored? " " Ay, I tell you, snored ; they slept upright In the great oaks by scores ; as true as time I'd had aught upon my mind just then, I wouldn't have walked that wood for unknown gold; It was most awful. When the moon was full, I've seen them fish at night, in the middle watch. When she got low I've seen them plunge like stones, And come up fighting with a fish as long, CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 101 Ay, longer than my arm ; and they would sail — When they had struck its life out — they vrould sail Over the deck, and show their fell, fierce eyes, And croon for pleasure, hug the prey, and speed Grand as a frigate on the wind. " " My ship. She must be called ' The Eagle ' after these . And, Martin, ask your wife about the songs When you go in at dhiner-time . " "Not I. " Jean Ingelow THE WANDERINGS OF A STAR, We reached Albany at 9 o'clock, and waited, inconven- iently, till half- past ten, for the night express- train to start. We took a lonely walk along the streets, saw men as if they had been trees, looked upon glittering windows as a vain show, and speculated upon the sensations of a man in the midst of all the impulses of busy life but not affected by them, walking unmoved amid things which move others. As the hour drew near for starting, we hastened back to the cars, took possession of the whole seat, meditating meth- ods of extracting sleep out of a long night-ride. Hvery one seemed doing the same thing, namely, keeping people out of their seats . We left Albany at half -past ten o'clock. At about 11 the hum of conversation died away. Every one was busy with the unnatural problem of sleep . In the cars, stretch- ing one's self out for balmy sleep, means, curling one's self up like a cat in a corner. Short limbs are a luxury when a man sleeps by the square inch. First, you lie down by the right side, against the window, till a stitch in your side, worming its way through your uneasy dream, like an awl 102 SCIENCE OF SPEECH leads you to reverse your position . As you lean on the in- side end of your seat, the conductor knocks your hat off or uses your head as a support to his steps as he sways along the rocking passage. At length, with a groan which ex- presses the very feeling of every bone and muscle and indi- vidual organ in your body, you try to sit upright, and to sleep erect. But erect sleep is perilous, even when it is possible. You nod and pitch, you collapse and condense^ and finally settle down in a promiscuous heap, wishing that you were a squirrel, or a kitten, and curiously remembering dogs that could convolute on a mat, and birds that could tuck their head under their wings, and draw their feet and legs up under their feathers . O I that I were round like a marble, and could be rid of protruding members! But such slumberous philosophy and somnolent yearnings for circular shapes die out as you sink again into a lethargy^ until the scream of the whistle, the grinding of the brakes, the concussions and jerks, arouse you to the fact that you are stopping to wood and water, and that some surely insane person has come in at this station, and wishes a part of your seat I " No, sir I I am a sovereign squatter here, I claim a pre-emption right. I have staked off this seat, and after all I have suffered, shall not give it up to anybody . " 80 the wheezing obesity, at least 800 avoirdupois, goes on . A faint smile plays on my lips to think what a time somebody will have who takes that continent of flesh into his seat ; for, in his despair, he will soon plunge into some- body's seat, like an oversetting load of hay . But the incomers walk disconsolately along, examining each side for a spot . It is quite easy to defend yourself against the pert and knowing. But that poor, pale, faint- looking woman, carrying a sleeping babe, that fears to dis- turb any one, — " Here, madam, sit down here — room enough — sit down, if you please . " " But I fear, sir, I CONVERSATIONAL STYLE 103 shall, with my babe — " " No, madam — no trouble — not if there were ten more children . " Poor little thing, it sleeps amidst the night, and all this inconvenience and weariness of trouble, as a sea-bird sleeps in some grassy cove, on the swing of the black waters . By and by, you shall not sleep so . You shall grow up to bear your own troubles, and the storms that blow shall not be broken by a mother's bosom, but strike right into jour own. You offer a part of your shawl; you insist that the child shall be divided, or the care of it, and by a quiet way you gradually get the little fellow wholly into your own lap and press him to your heart, and drop down tears on him God knows why I How it rests you to feel his sweet bur- densomeness. The mother knows her child's safety, and drops asleep. It is a face with which sorrow has been busy. But you ask no questions. About three in the morning she leaves. You carry the child, and give it to her ; and as she turns and disappears into the somber- gray night, you hear the little fellow's voice chirruping, like a bird's startled note, as it dreams in the still night, and speaks in its sleep from out of leaves and darkness. You return, and look for a moment at the grotesque appearance of a car full of sleeping and sleepless wretches. By contrast everybody looks ten times sleepier than before, after you have looked at them . At length, the long night- mare wears itself out . Color begins to come into the cheeks of the morning. The air smells fresher. The birds are seen, and might be heard, if the huge Bird of Speed that whirls you along were not so noisy . At length, about two o'clock we reached Buffalo, tired dusty, and eminently patient. Amid sentiments, high- soaring thoughts, and back-reaching remembrances and affections, there arose stern thougts of dinner. Heney Ward Beecher. 104 SCIENCE OF SPEECH LIV. Law of Oratorical Style . — Bold, earnest language accompanied by an active undercurrent of feeling, whether in reading, speaking or conversation, requires an Oratorical Style, marked by round, full tones, heavy force, prevailing monotone and much fervor. Examples of Oratorical Selections — DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG CEMETERY. Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal . Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can long endure . We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who have given their lives that that nation might live. But, in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot hallow this ground , The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or to detract . The world will very little note or long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here . It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to the un- finished work they have thus far so nobly carried on . It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the laat full measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, ORATORICAL STYLE 105 and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth . Abeaham Lincoln. BACK FROM THE WAR. I never realized what this country was and is as on the ' day when I first saw some of these brave men of the Army andNavy . It was when, at the close of the war, our armies came back, and marched in review before the President's stand at Washington . I do not care whether a man was a Republican or Democrat, a Northern man or a Southern man ; if he had any emotion of nature, he could not look upon it without weeping . God knew that the day was stupendous, and he cleared the heaven of cloud and mist and chill, and sprung the blue sky as a triumphal arch for the returning warriors to pass under. From Arlington Heights the spring foliage shook out its welcome, as the hosts came over the hills, and the sparkling waters of the Potomac tossed their gold to the feet of the battal- ions as they came to the Long Bridge and in almost inter- minable line passed over . The Capitol never looked so majestic as that morning, snowy white, looking down upon the tides of men that came surging down, billow after bil- low. Passing in silence, yet 1 heard in every step the thunder of conflicts through which they had waded, and seeined to see from their smoke-blackened flags the blood of our country's martyrs . For the best part of two days we stood and watched the filing on of what seemed endless battalions, brigade after brigade, division, after division, rank beyond rank ; ever moving, ever passing ; marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp — thousands after thou- sands, battery front, arms shouldered, columns solid, shoul- der to shoulder, wheel to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril. 106 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Commanders on horses whose manes were intwined with roses, and necks enchained with garlands, fractious at the shouts that ran along the line, increasing from the clap- ping of children clothed in white, standing on the steps of the Capitol, to the tumultuous vociferation of the hun- dreds of thousands of enraptured multitudes, crying Huzza 1 Huzza ! Gleami n g muskets, thundering parks of artillery, rumbling pontoon- wagons, ambulances from whose wheels seemed to sound out the groans of the crushed and the dying that they had carried . These men came from the balmy Minnesota; those from Illinois prairies. These were often hummed to sleep by the pines of Oregon ; those were New England lumbermen . Those came out of the coal- shafts of Pennsylvania. Side by side in one great cause, consecrated through fire and storm and darkness, brothers in peril, on their way home from Chancellorsville and Kenesaw Mountain andFredericksburg, in lines that seem- ed infinite, they passed on. "We gazed and wept and wondered, lifting up our heads to see if the end had come ; but no 1 Looking from one end of that long avenue to the other, we saw them yet in solid column, battery front, host beyond host, wheel to wheel, charger to charger, nos- tril to nostril, coming as it were from under the Capitol. Forward 1 Forward I Their bayonets, caught in the sun, glimmered and flashed and blazed, till they seemed one long river of silver, ever and anon changing into a river of fire. No end to the procession, no rest for the eyes. But hush, uncover every head 1 Here they pass, the remnant of ten men of a full regiment. Silence! Widowhood and orphanage look on, and wring their hands. But wheel into line, all ye people ! North, South, East, West — all decades, all centuries, all millenniums I Forward, the whole line. T. Db Witt Talmagb. ORATORICAL STYLE 107 THE ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM . Here are old trees, tall oaks and gnarled pines, That stream with gray-green mosses ; here the ground Was never trenched by spade, and flowers sprang up Unsown, and die ungathered. It is sweet To linger here, among the flitting birds, And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks, and winds That shake the leaves, and seatter, as they pass, A fragrance from the cedars, thickly set With pale blue berries . In these peaceful shades — Peaceful, unpruned, immeasurably old — My thoughts go up the long dim path of years. Back to the earliest days of liberty . Oh Freedom I thou art not, as poets dream, A fair young girl, with light and delicate limbs, gAnd wavy tresses gushing from the cap With which the Koman master crowned his slave When he took off the gyves. A bearded man, Armed to the teeth, art thou ; one mailed hand Grasps the broad shield, and one the sword ; thy brow. Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarred With tokens of old wars ; thy massive limbs Are strong with struggling . Power at thee has launched His bolts, and with his lightnings smitten thee ; They could not quench the life thou hast from heaven. Merciless power has dug thy dungeon deep. And his swart armorers, by a thousand fires. Have forged thy chain ; yet, while he deems thee bound. The links are shivered, and the prison walls Fall outward : terribly thou springest forth, As springs the flame above a burning pile, And shoutest to the nations, who return Thy shoutings, while the pale oppressor flies . 108 SCIENCE OF SPEECH Thy birthright was not given by human hands ; Thou wert twin-born with man . In pleasant fields, While yet our race was few, thou sat'st with him, To tend the quiet flock and watch the stars, And teach the reed to utter simple airs. Thou by his side, amid the tangled wood. Didst war upon the panther and the wolf. His only foes; and thou with him didst draw The earliest furrows on the mountain side, Soft with the deluge , Tyranny himself. Thy enemy, although of reverend look. Hoary with many years, and far obeyed, Is later born than thou; and as he meets The grave defiance of thine elder eye. The usurper trembles in his fastnesses . Thou shall wax stronger with the lapse of years. But he shall fade into a feebler age ; Feebler, yet subtle. He shall weave his snares, And spring them on thy careless steps, and clap His withered hands, and from their ambush call His hordes to fall upon thee . He shall send Quaint maskers, forms of fair and gallant mien, To catch thy gaze, and uttering graceful words To charm thy ear; while his sly imps, by stealth. Twine round thee threads of steel, light thread on thread, That grow to fetters ; or bind down thine arms With chains concealed in chaplets. Oh I not yet May's! thou unbrace thy corslet, nor lay by Thy sword; nor yet, Freedom ! close thy lids In slumber ; for thine enemy never sleeps, And thou must watch and combat till the day Of the new earth and heaven . But wouldst thou rest ORATORICAL STYLE 109 Awhile from tumult and the frauds of men. These old and friendly solitudes invite Thy visit. They, while yet the forest trees Were young upon the unviolated earth, And yet the moss-stains on the rock were new, Beheld thy glorious childhood, and rejoiced . William Cullen Bryant. PAUL'S ADDRESS TO THE MEN OF ATHENS. Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious . For as I passed by, and beheld your de- votions, I found an altar with this inscription, " to the UNKNOWN GOD . " Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you . God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us ; for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we also are his offspring . Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto god, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device . And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now com- mandeth all men every where to repent : because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; where- of he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 110 SCIENCE OF SPEECH THE BLESSINGS OF PEACE. Peace is the grand Christian charity, the fountain and parent of all other charities. Let peace be removed, and all other charities sicken and die. Let peace exert her glad- some sway, and all other charities quicken into celestial life. Peace is a distinctive promise and possession of Christianity. So much is this the case, that, where peace is not, Christian- ity cannot be. There is nothing elevated which is not exalted by peace. There is nothing valuable, which does not contribute to peace. Of Wisdom herself it has been said, that all her ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Peace has ever been the longing and aspiration of the noblest souls — whether for themselves or for their country. In bitterness of exile, away from the Florence which he has immortalized by his divine poem, pacing the cloisters of a convent, in respcmse to the inquiry of the menk, — " What do you seek? " Dante said, in words distilled from his heart, " Peace ! Peace! " In the memorable English struggle, when King and Parliament were rending the land, a gallant supporter of the monarchy, the chivalrous Falk- land, touched by the intolerable woes of war, cried in words which consecrate his memory more than any feat of arms, "Peace! Peace! Peace! " Not in aspiration only, but in benediction, is this word uttered. As the aposile went forth on his errand, as the son left his father's roof, the choicest blessing was, — " Peace be with you ! " As the Savior was bom, angels from Heaven, amidst quiring melodies, let fall that supreme benediction, never before vouchsafed to the children of the human family,— Peem on earth and good-will toward men. Chables Sumnee DRAMATIC STYLE HI LV. Law of Dramatic Style. — In language of violent emotion and passion, the tone and manner are controlled by that passion, and the speaker is, as it were, swept onward in his utterance by the power which has paralyzed his will. This is the Dramatic Style. Note. — Fervor added to the Conversational gives the Oratorical; passion added gives the Dramatic. Examples of Dramatic Selections — THE UNCLE. I had an uncle once — a man Of threescore years and three ; — And when my reason's dawn began, He'd take me on his knee ; And often talk, whole winter nights, Things that seemed strange to me . He was a man of gloomy mood, And few his converse sought; But, it was said, in solitude His conscience with him wrought; And there, before his mental eye, Some hideous vision brought . There was not one in all the house Who did not fear his frown, Save I, a little careless child. Who gamboled up and down, And often peeped into his room, And plucked him by the gown. 112 SCIENCE OF SPEECH I was an orphan and alone, — My father was his brother, And all their lives I knew that they Had fondly loved each other; And in my uncle's room there hung The picture of my mother . There was a curtain over it, — 'Twas in a darkened place. And few or none had ever looked Upon my mother's face. Or seen her pale expressive smile Of melancholy grace. One night — I do remember well. The wind was howling high, And through the ancient corridors It sounded drearily — I sat and read in that old hall ; My uncle sat close by . I rea