VOICE AND GBSTUBB Rupert Garry BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 Attp/^ icmi Cornell University Library arV14460 Elocution, voice and gesture: 3 1924 031 386 828 olln.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/cu31924031386828 What the " Scotsman " says :— • " A well-chosen selection of pieces for Recitation, and edited with a brief and pointed introduction of practical purport." What the "Dramatic Review" says:— "Mr. Rupert Garry, in the 'Elocutionist' which bears his name, has stepped out of the beaten and monotonous track travelled for so long by his predecessors, and given us a work in which he has exercised his practical judgment to good advantage. Mr. Garry has been bold enough and wise enough to make a selection of new works, which will come as a. welcome addition to the ripertoires of reciters. The collection covers an unusually wide range of ground, from some bright little pieces especially adapted to drawing- room purposes to u' .e rno/e powerful and tragic specimens of the public reciter ; and the compiler has, moreover, gone the length of paying both for original works and the right of including copyright pieces, a course commendable alike for its honesty and enterprise. Mr. Garry's practical knowledge of the subject and trained judgment have been combined in the production of one of the best books of its kind at present before the public." What the "Bazaar" says:— ' ' The book contains a very choice selection of prose and verse, and some of the pieces cannot be found in any other work. This circumstances raises the volume above the level of collections of similar character, and will doubt- less largely help to make it popular. Here the reciter will find that inimitable bit of fun called ' How ' ' Ruby " Played, ' better known as ' Rubinstein's Piano,' and also many another fragment of 'exquisite fooling.' Preceding the body of the work there is a sensible Introduction, in which the editor has •; -incorporated, as concisely as was possible in such limited space, many of the results of his experience as a Teacher of Elocution and Dramatic Art. The book is nicely got up, and cheap at 2S." What "John Bull" says:— ' ' The coippiler has made an excellent selection of pieces, and has prefaced the whole with many useful hints as to the method of delivery." What the " Figaro " says :— "We know of no volume of the kind equal to 'Garry's Elocutionist,' and we shall be surprised if it is not largely in demand. It will be found especially invaluable in the provinces. Reciters who wish to become good elocutionists will be glad of the useful hints in the Introduction." What the "Practical Teacher" says:— "Mr. GARRY-has produced an admirable and varied collection of pieces suitable for Recitation or Reading on the platform or in the drawing-room. Some are old favourites, but many are new, copyright, and unhackneyed. The book is a welcome addition to those we have had hitherto compiled for the same purpose. Mirth-provoking and sympathy-rousing pieces are judiciously blended." (2) MARCUS WARD &■ CO., LIMITED, Elocution, Doice anb (3e8ture» Crown 8vo, Cloth, ijd. WHAT THE PRESS SAYS: The "Queen" says:— "There can be no doubt that Elocution is an art, and as such must be studied, even by the most naturally gifted. Hence the value of a good teacher, such as Mr. Garry certainly appears to be. His remarks on what may be called the mechanism of Elocution are sensible and useful, as is also his chapter on the Voice. His hints on Gesture will furnish the student with many admirable suggestions. Altogether the work may be recommended as really a practical one." The " Schoolmaster " says :— " Used as a supplement to the vivd voce explanations of a good teacher, the book will be of use. Constant practice under the supervision of a com- petent instructor is essential ; but the knowledge of the theory contained in this book will render that practice more effectual." The " Guardian " says :— " 'Elocution, Voice and Gesture,' by Mr. Rupert Garry, may be con- fidently recommended to all who are in any way concerned in public reading . or speaking. Mr. Garry gives admirable and sensible advice on articulation, , expression, modulation and emphasis. There is also-a most useful chapter '*t' on the mechanism of the voice, and another on approved remedies for vooal infirmities." " Pump Court " says :— ' ' The chapters on Expression and Reading would alone render the book a very cheap purchase." * , The " Voice " (New York) says :— " The book contains many valuable hints in regard to Voice and Gesture." The " Church Times " says :— "There are a good many sensible remarks as to the use of the voice in ' Elocution, Voice and Gesture,' which might be well studied by young clergy- men. . . We think it would be no bad thing if Bishops, before accepting candidates for ordination, would test their powers of reading and speaking, and would reject those who showed they had taken no trouble to practise distinct enunciation and a careful style of reading." The "Bock" says:— " Mr. Garry's paper on Pulpit Education contains some sound advice and some caustic criticism." The "Dramatic Review" says:— "Coming from the pen of a well-known teacher of Elocution, it is sure to meet with that welcome and approval which the work merits. It contains various well-written articles on the art and nature of Elocution, with some very valuable hints on modulation and emphasis, " LONDON, BELFAST, NEW YORK & SYDNEY. (3) ELOCUTION VOICE AND GESTURE ILLUSTRATED BY PIECES, ANNOTATED WITH INFLECTIONS, EMPHASIS, PAUSES AND GESTURE By RUPERT gARRY Editor of "Garry's Elocutionist" and "The Annotated Liturgy" EIGHTEENTH THOUSAND MARCUS WARD & CO., LIMITED ORIEL HOUSE, FARRINGDON STREET, LONDON, E.G. AND AT BELFAST, NEW YORK, AND SYDNEY TO EDWARD S. WILLARD, WHOSE GENIUS HAS PLACED HIM IN THE VERY FOREFRONT OF BRITISH ACTORS ; AND WHOSE UPWARD PROGRESS IN THAT ART OF WHICH HE IS NOW ONE OF THE ABLEST EXPONENTS,' I HAVE WATCHED WITH KEEN AND EVER-GROWING INTEREST. PREFACE. The fact that another Edition of this little work has been called for is not only gratifying to myself, but is a proof that the cause of Elocution is taking a firmer hold of the public mind. The "practical" nature of the contents has been regarded by all, whether critics or students, as a special point in its favour, distinguishing it, on the one hand, from the elaborate and pseudo-scientific essays of some writers, and, on the other hand, from the vague and unhelpful lucubrations so characteristic of much of the literature of elocution and voice-culture. The Section on the Voice has, I am gla,d to acknowledge, given considerable satisfaction. It is never sufficiently recognised that Voice-training is at the root of all good Reading and Speaking. Most people, through ignorance, attribute their sore throats, &c., to every cause except the right one. Clergymen and actors are the principal sufferers in this direction, and they seem incapable of taking a lesson from the revenge which nature invariably exacts from their fellow-workers in consequence of this neglect. Hoarseness, throatiness, falsetto, &c., are not freaks of nature, but are, nearly in all cases, the result of producing VI CONTENTS. PIECES ANNOTATED. PAGE "Hamlet's Advice to the Players" (with a note by Percy Fitzgerald) 105 Pitt's Reply to Sir Robert Walpole 107 The Slave's Dream 109 Extract from "Magdalen" hi Troubadour's Call to War - 112 The Seminole's Defiance 114 The Charge of the Light Brigade 115 The Eve of Waterloo - 117 Last Days of Herculaneum - 119 The Son of Perdition - 121 Marino Faliero's Address - 123 The Flight of Xerxes The Glove and the Lions The Curse, from "Claudian" - - 129 The Battle Hymn of the Landsturm- 131 The Battle of the League - 132 Scene from "Ruy Blas" 137 Hamlet's Soliloquy 140 Marc Antony's Oration 141 Clito's Address to the Men of Athens 144 The Spanish Mother (with Letter from Mr. E. S. Willard) 146 RiENZi's Address (with Letter from M. Legouve, author of "Adrienne Lecouvreur,'' d^c.) 148 The Lord's Prayer 151 Extract from "Salammbo" 152 125 127 INDEX. Aconite, Tincture of 89 Acting, Mr. Irving on ... 63 „ Consistency in ... 69 Actors, Amateur 62 „ ,, Scenes and Plays for 64 Ammonium, Chloride of ... 89 ,, ,, Inhaler 91 Arms 102 Articulation 14 Assumed Voice 18 Attitudes 7 Blank Verse, Helen Faucit on Reading 47 Breathing, Rules for... 9, 75 Bronchial Tubes 76 Circumflex 29 Clergyman's Sore Throat .. . 84 Coca 92 Cocaine 9° Delivery i Diaphragm 73 Echo 29 Elocution, Prof. Blair on ... 2 „ Prof.Seeleyon... 3 „ Addison on ... 2 Emphasis 34 Epiglottis 77 Eucalyptine 91 Exclamation 29 Expression 21, 48 Eyes 95 Force 33 Gesture 94 Glottis 78 Hands . . . Hazeline Head ... ' Prof. Ringer on. 98, 103 89 Inflections Intoning Larynx Lifeless Delivery Lungs Modulation , Monotone Mouth Orotund Voice ... ... 24 ... 60 ... 77 ... 5° ... 74 ... 30 ... 28 82, 96 32, 83 89 lOI Parenthesis 27 Pause 38 Pharynx 82 Pinol 91 Pitch of Voice 79 Potash Tabloids 90 Pronunciation 18 Pulpit Elocution 54 ,, Daily News on 61 Reade, Charles S3 Reading 43 ,, Dramatic 44 Shoulders 102 Sighing 76 Tabloids, Voice 90 Teaching, Sir Morell Mac- kenzie on 21 Teeth 86 Terebene 90 ,, Dr. Murrell on ... 90 Time 32 Tone 3' Trachea 76 Verse Reading 45 Vocal Cords 77 , , Organs, Digram of. . . 72 Voice 73 „ Remedies 84 „ Production ... 12 , 74 ELOCUTION "Among Coleridge's accomplishments good reading was not one — he had neither voice nor management of voice. This defect is unfortunate in a public lecturer, for it is inconceivable hov7 much weight and effectual pathos can be communicated by sonorous depth and melodious cadences of the human voice to sentiments the most trivial ; nor, on the other hand, how the grandest are emasculated by a style of reading which fails in distributing the lights and shadows of a musical intonation." — De Quincey, "If I could have a son or daughter possessed of but one accom- plishment in life, it should be that of good reading. " — Ruskin. "Recitation is the best and most natural way to introduce an assurance and confidence in speaking, with that leisure and tone of pronunciation that is decent and graceful, and in which so few men are excellent, for. want of information and care when they are young." — Lord Clarendon. IT is unnecessary to enlarge upon the merit, the necessity, and the advantages of Elocution, i.e., of a good style of Reading and Speaking, or delivering written or spoken composition with a clear, audible, distinct pronunciation of the words, and with appropriate and suitable modulations and 2 ELOCUTION. inflections of the voice. This, however, though important, and, in fact, nearly all that is required from the Reader, is not all-sufficient for the Speaker, who, in addition, must also possess and apply with discretion the adjuncts of expression of feature, and of grace and force of gesture. In the most ancient authors we find sentiments constantly recurring as to the desirability of a good delivery. Cicero, in one of his Orations, says : — "Delivery is the only thing in speaking which is supreme. Without it, the greatest orator can achieve nothing ; with it, persons of commonplace or mediocre ability can often surpass the greatest. DemostHenes, when asked what was the first essential in a public speaker, is stated to have replied three times in succession — " Delivery." I need not, however, go so far back, but will only quote some expressions by leading clergymen and others in modern times : — " The management of the voice and gesture in public speaking is intimately connected with what is, or ought to be, the end of all speaking — persuasion." — Rev. Hugh Blair, D.D., Professor of Rhetoric in the University of Edinburgh. " It is certain that proper gestures and exertion of the voice cannot be too much studied by a public orator. They are a kind of comment to what he utters, and enforce every- thing he says better than the strongest argument he can make use of. They keep the audience awake, and fix their attention on what is delivered to them ; at the same time, they show that the speaker is in ELOCUTION. 3 earnest, affected himself by what he so passionately recommends to others." — Addison. But perhaps the strongest sentiments ever expressed on the importance of Elocution are to be found in a lecture on Education, delivered at the Royal Institution, by J. R. Seeley, Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge : — " The first thing is, that boys should be taught to read well. By reading well, I do not mean merely correctly, but distinctly and expres- sively. In short, they should be taught Elocution. To this I attach the greatest importance. It is more than one hundred years since Bishop Berkeley pro- pounded the question, whether half the learning and talent in England were not lost because Elocution was not taught in schools and colleges? This same question might be repeated now ; and it is not merely for its practical use in after life to those whose profession demands public speaking that I desire to see Elocution made a part of Education, but because I think that by this means, more than any other, may be evoked in the minds of the young a taste for poetry and eloquence. This taste is really very universal ; generally, where it appears wanting, it is only dormant ; and it is dormant because no means have ever been taken to cultivate the sense of rhythm and to make the delightfulness of speech understood." One of the principal and most valuable aims which those who learn Elocution should hold before them, is the learning of good poems by heart. Professor 4 ELOCUTION. F. W. Newman speaks of the practice of Recitation as " a valuable mental exercise." " It will often happen," he .writes, "that in the private reading of a piece of poetry, a young person carries off but a tame and dry conception ; but on hearing it well read, finds in it a depth of feeling and variety of allusion which had previously escaped his notice. In order to read even with right inflections, a sound understanding of the syntax is needed. This is something. But it is far more to enter into the delicate shades of sentiment or deeper emotions which lie beneath the letter, and are not really expressed on the page. No reading of poetry, or of classically written prose, conveys the whole sense to the hearer's heart, unless there is feeling in the utterance ; and to be able readily to express the feeling of any proposed passage is a high test of delicately cultivated sentiment. . . . . . That a person understands and feels what has been written is in no way so well proved as by his reciting the words with judgment and feeling.'' There is another point in connection \yith reciting, to which I will just refer. The late Sir Henry Holland, M.D., Physician to the Queen, and one of the recognised authorities of his day, says : — " Read- ing aloud is one of very ancient recommendation"— for exercising the function of respiration by those who have any tendency to pulmonary disorders — "the good effects of which are not limited to this object alone. It might, indeed, be well were the practice of distinct recitation, such as implies a certain ELOCUTION. 5 effort of the organs beyond that of mere ordinary speaking, more generally used in early life, and con- tinued as a habit, or regular exercise, but especially by those whose chests are weak, and who cannot sustain stronger exertions. . . . The common course of education is much at fault in this respect. If some small part of the time given to crowding facts on the mind not yet prepared to receive or retain them, were employed in fashioning and improving the organs of speech under good tuition, and with suitable subjects for recitation, both mind and body would often gain materially by the substitution." And in the same connection. Dr. John Armstrong, an eminent physician who lived towards the close of the last century, says in his " Art of Preserving Health '' : — And read aloud, resounding Homer's strains ; And wield the thunder of Demosthenes ; The chest so exercised improves its strength.'' What is Elocution? It literally means distinct utterance ; but it has now come to signify the art of delivering written or spoken language in the manner best calculated to express the sense, beauty, or force of the words which are used by the speaker, by means of tones of the voice and by gesture. The requisites of a good delivery are : — 1. The clear enunciation of the separate words and their elements. 2. The proper expression of the sense of the words in connected discourse. 3. Appropriate gesture, in which are included the 6 ELOCUTION. attitude, the motions of the body, head, or arms, and the aspect of the countenance most suitable to lend animation and force to the words uttered. It is impossible to learn Elocution and Declama- tion from books, or by merely listening to a lecture. Elocution can be learnt thoroughly only by oral teaching, accompanying, or following on, a theoretical knowledge of the subject. But there are certain rules, by observing which the pupil will more readily apprehend and recognise the reason of a certain mode of reading on the part of the teacher, and by practising which he will himself become a good reader and speaker. Long-winded essays and rambling lectures on the Art of Speaking, in nearly all cases, leave matters pretty much where they were at first. The reader, too often in vain, looks in the cloud of words for the grains of information which he can apply successfully. I will try not to commit these faults. The rules which I will lay down will be practical, clear, concise and easily understood. To begin, then, with the most elementary rules, which at first sight may appear trivial, but which are absolutely essential, and without which a reader or a speaker will never be able to do justice either to himself or his subject. Sit quiet for a short time before speaking ; when you are ready and have got on your legs, stand in a perfectly erect but easy position. Throw your chest well out, and hold the shoulders backward and downward. The object of this is, as much as ATTITUDES. 7 possible to expand the chest and allow the air passages of the lungs free and uninterrupted play. In order to let the voice have full power, the mouth should .be well opened by lowering the under jaw, but not so as to distort the features. Let the weight of the body always rest on one foot, the other being placed in such a position as, when necessary, to relieve it promptly and without effort. Alternation of posture is agreeable and graceful ; but it should not be too frequent, as the idea of nervousness and fidgetiness is thus suggested. Practise the following positions : — First position — rest on the left leg, the right foot being slightly in advance, and at an angle of about 75 degrees. Second position — Slide right foot forward when emphasizing a sentiment, or stretching out the arms to the audience ; rest on right foot, the ball of the left great toe alone touching the floor, so as to keep the body from tottering. Alternate these positions with left leg for third and fourth positions, but not too frequently, and in doing so let the motions be made with the utmost simplicity. The fourth position, however, is rarely used except by those who have been badly taught. The first position of the right foot is the more usual and more graceful one, inasmuch as it is better suited to the gestures which are most frequently made with the right arm. But should the speaker stretch his arms towards the audience when he begins to speak, he should take the second position. 8 ELOCUTION. Before commencing to speak, take a pretty deep inhalation of breath ; but do not let it be too deep. Economise your breath, and never exhaust it. At every pause take a full, noiseless, even inhalation ; and at every rhetorical pause, which I shall explain further on, take a short inhalation ; otherwise the lungs will become exhausted and at last injured, while the process of breathing will be spasmodic. The expulsion of the air in speaking should be made, not so much by the descent of the thorax or wall of the chest, as by the ascent of the diaphragm or base of the chest. The breath is thus more evenly expelled, and the sound can be kept up for a longer time. Avoid gasping, or drawing in the breath with perceptible effort. "The natural and free development of tone," says Bach, "depends, above all, on the difficult art of correct ««spiration and ^;irpiration. Breath must be drawn completely at ease, without fits or starts, and quite noiselessly, until even the lower parts of the lungs are completely filled with air. Many persons spoil their very first note by singing it over-hastily, even before they have done drawing a breath ; whilst the formation of the tone must begin only with the expiration, which likewise must be executed with the greatest possible ease and gentleness. It does not depend upon the great volume of ejected air. On the contrary, too much breath makes the note un- certain and unsteady. Flat singing is generally due to this mistake. The vocaJ cords are weakened by BREATHING. 9 such forcible expulsion of the breath, the tone becomes hard, and the throat is injured. The singer must rather carefully husband the air deeply drawn into the lungs, and must give it out only gradually. To convince yourself in the simplest way of the correctness of my view, try to whistle. If we force too much air against the edges of our lips, or drive a violent breath on them, we produce either no tone at all, or only a very unpleasant one. If, on the other hand, very little air, and this but gently, touch our lips, we shall often hear notes such as singing birds can produce Even when singing fortissimo, we must avoid throwing the full breath on the windpipe, but rather regulate and check it by holding it in ; for it is a delusion to believe that the strongest breath produces the loudest sound. Lavish expenditure or forcing of the breath on the windpipe will by no means achieve a real sonorous, rich forte. This must rather be produced by setting a com- paratively small volume of breath into the greatest possible vibration and resonance within the throat and mouth. A rich volume of voice is produced only by a perfectly free flow of air through the larynx, and is produced especially when the air strikes the pharynx." ' The peculiarity of so many singers in producing the higher notes of the chest-register by a greater expenditure of breath and a pressure of the muscles of the neck, is entirely wrong. It is a law in nature that the larynx rises by the heightening and falls rO ELOCUTION. by the deepening of the sound, but there should be no pressure on the muscles of the neck, for thereby the natural function of the larynx is hindered. A too great expenditure of breath, or concussion of the vocal cords, will be followed by screaming tones, and not only that, but the vocal cords will in time lose their elasticity, and with this their ability of vibrating. This is the cause of the ruin of so many voices." — (Guttmann.) And anyone regularly attending London theatres will find that the voices of most of the actors and actresses are sensibly deteriorating, simply be- cause they mistake noisy acting for forcible acting. Observe and practise the following rule, which is of, I may almost say, vital importance. When either reading, speaking, or walking, and especially after coming out of a hot room, the breath should, under all circumstances, be inhaled into the lungs only through the nostrils, never through the mouth, other- wise the throat is rendered dry and apt to become inflamed ; while in damp weather the phlegm is much more liable to accumulate in the throat, the result being a hoarseness of speaking, which goes far to destroy the effect of even a naturally good voice. In order to keep purity of tone in the voice, both the nostrils and the throat must be kept clear of all obstruction. A celebrated writer on Voice Culture says : — " The importance of breathing through the nose has never been sufficiently recognised. Vocalists ought, in the morning, immediately after rising, to bestow particular attention to their noses. I am in BREATHING. 1 1 the habit of using every morning as a nose-bath a large tumblerful of tepid water, in which there is dissolved a tablespoonful of table salt. This water is gently drawn through the nostrils four or five times in succession ; and I can earnestly recommend this process to every vocalist. By these means all foreign substances are removed, the air passages are cleared, and it is a truly agreeable sensation to be able at once in the morning to inhale freely through the nostrils the fresh air." As soon as the mouth is open — that is, at the moment of expiration — seize the sound, so as not to lose valuable breath. In this way you also produce a more distinct sound than you would otherwise do. The management of the lungs in speaking and singing is an art, in which one becomes efficient only after careful training. Breathing, in combination with vocalization and articulation, are one and all required by one who aspires to become a good speaker or singer. Unless a person knows how to manage the breath, the result is the use of too much force in breathing, which strains the vocal organs. Breathing well consists in the harmonious performance of two separate actions — inspiration, or taking in breath ; and expiration, or giving out breath. In taking in breath, in order to get a good supply, we must employ, not only the upper portion of the lungs, but also the diaphragm. A bad reader or speaker never inhales enough, and always exhales too much and too fast. He is unable to store it up, with the inevitable 1 2 ELOCUTION. result of being under the necessity of constantly catching at his breath, a trick so well known as gasping. A great deal of twaddle, not to say empiricism, is talked about Voice Production. A voice cannot be produced unless it exists, but it can be improved — wonderfully and effectively — by simply practising the correct system of breathing. Herein lies the whole art of voice-production. All breathing, whether in singing, in speaking, or in every-day life, should be abdominal and not clavicular, which last is totally vicious, and can really only be produced by a kind of struggle. This style of breathing, moreover, besides being injurious, is ungraceful, as it necessarily compels the moving up and down of the shoulders, which should be kept immovable. If any difficulty is found, at first, in getting rid of this bad habit, the result only of bad teaching, the pupil should practise breathing under a couple of ledges, which will prevent his shoulders from rising, and thus compel him to adopt the proper style of breathing. Guttmann, one of the greatest authorities on the Voice, says : — " Every singer, or speaker, should breathe as far as possible through the nose, and should make use of every opportunity that presents itself for doing so. But where is there such an opportunity ? Wherever he has two or three seconds' time, which is quite ample for a full inspiration. But in inspiring through the nose, we should not move the muscles as though we wished to smell ; this BREATHING. 1 3 checks the air which is to be inhaled and becomes unpleasantly audible." A late well-known teacher of Elocution was famous for this disagreeable and unnatural style of breathing. " Inspiration should be performed solely with the inspiratory muscles (the diaphragm and the external intercostals), the nostrils to be used only as openings for the passage of the air. We should also be careful not to compress the lips while inspiring through the nostrils. Compress- ing the lips tightly reduces the openings of the nostrils, by which inspiration is rendered infinitely more difficult, and a noise is produced as in audible smelling. If we are compelled, by rapid singing or speaking, to breathe through the mouth, it is quite necessary in inspiration to hold the tongue convexly towards the palate, as in pronouncing E (as in he), as the air is thus prevented by the narrowed cavity of the mouth from striking directly against the vocal cords, and there is much less danger of the mucous mem- brane becoming dry." In connection with this I will allude to the soft palate, which plays an important part. " It is a movable curtain at the back of the hard palate, or roof of the mouth. When a deep inspiration is taken through the mouth, it will be felt that this soft palate is forced backward until it touches the back wall of the throat, the pharynx ; but when the inspiration is taken in through the nose, it will be felt that the soft palate moves forward somewhat, so as to leave a considerable space between it and the pharynx, in 14 ELOCUTION. order that the air can pass by this route into the larynx." Some authorities say that, owing to this action of the soft palate, it is unnecessary to shut the mouth in order to breathe through the nose ; but, with all due deference to them, I have no hesitation in stating that, to say nothing of the long and not always successful practice which would be required to breathe always through the nose, the simplest, shortest, most easily practised and safest plan is, to bring the tongue into play as an assistant to the natural action to the soft palate. It is thus that a much greater quantity of air can be inhaled than by the ordinary, and with some persons disagreeably- sounding, system of inhaling through the nose alone. Some writers on Elocution claim great credit for advising that breathing exercises should be practised when lying on the flat of the back. To me, the superiority- of this plan is very doubtful, inasmuch as the breathing apparatus is then in a different position to what it is when the person is standing up, and therefore it may be that the organs are exercised in different ways and to different degrees. The only merit — and it is one that is almost altogether over- looked — is that it necessitates the adoption and practice of the right mode of breathing, viz., from the abdomen, and not from the shoulders. Having borne these rules in mind, we now come to Articulation and Pronunciation. Articulation is the art of cutting out and shaping with the organs of ARTICULATION. 1 5 speech all the simple and compound sounds which our twenty-six letters represent. The end of Oratory- is to persuade. We cannot persuade unless we are first clearly understood ; we cannot be understood unless we utter our words with distinctness, correct- ness, ease and elegance. A clear and distinct articulation atones for many things ; but nothing can make up for the want of it. Its importance cannot be over-estimated. Slovenly articulation is mis- spelling to the ear; and is as great a blemish as false spelling in any writing. " A good articulation," says Sheridan, " consists in giving every letter in a syllable its due proportion of sound, according to the most approved custom of pronouncing it ; and in making such a distinction between the syllables, of which the words are composed, that the ear shall, without difficulty, acknowledge their number, and perceive at once to which syllable such letter belongs. Where these points are not observed, the articulation is proportionally defective." Open the mouth well, in order to attain the quality of round- ness, fulness and clearness. Articulate clearly and fully, and let the words be begun and ended crisply and cleanly. They should not be hurried over or drawled, or permitted to slip out carelessly, or to drop unfinished. They must not be pronounced in such a manner as is, unfortunately^ not uncommon on the part of those who have been badly taught, namely, by introducing unnecessary sounds between the words, e.g., "flashing-ah like-ah a sunlit-ah l6 ELOCUTION. gem-ah." Let the lips perform their due share in the process of articulating, otherwise the sounds will not be distinct. A distinct and perfect articulation, besides being of importance as. regards the expres- sion, also enables the speaker to dispense with mere loudness, which would not only exhaust his own strength, but annoy the ears of his audience. This is particularly the case in buildings which are afflicted with an echo. There you must be very distinct and slow, and pause frequently, so as to allow the waves of the air to subside. In fact, always adapt and proportion your voice, not only to the size of the place in which you speak, but also to its acoustic properties. Do not drop the voice at the end of a sentence, with the result of becoming almost inaudible. The voice should be sustained not only throughout the words, but throughout the sentence to the very end. No part of a sentence is of more importance than the close, both in respect of sense and harmony. Doa't imitate the clergyman who is said to have announced that he intended, on the following Sunday, to preach on "the aspects of hell"; and, when the time came, was obliged to confess to an unusually crowded congregation that what he really meant was " the aspects of health." Only four con- sonants permit of prolonged sound — 1, m, n, r. With these exceptions, the voice should rest only and at due length on the vowels, and all other consonants should be struck suddenly and pronounced rapidly, but full. Always pronounce clearly, cleanly and distinctly the ARTICULATION. 1 7 word and; e.g., good-an-bad, hooks-an-eyes, up-'n- down, etc. Be careful to sound the prefixes and terminations clearly ; e.g., admit, not 'dmit, ambition, not 'mbition, thinking, not thinkin', etc. Unless words are clearly articulated, confusion and uncertainty will result, e.g., d and j ■when followed by u are frequently confounded. " The Duke paid the money due to the Jew, before the dew was off the ground ; and the Jew, having duly acknowledged it, said adieu to the Duke for ever." Don't run the words into each other. The first direction which that great actress, Mrs. Siddons, used to give to her pupils was, "Take time." Throw as it were each syllable into the ear of the most remote individual in the audience, and give it time to be heard before the utterance of its successor. The smallest and least important word in a sentence or discourse, if worth uttering at all, is worth uttering audibly. Rapidity of utterance is destructive of expression, of distinctness, and sometimes even of meaning. Practise on the following sentences : — Heaven's first star {not fir star) ; The supply lasts still (not lasts till) ; I see the panting spirit sigh (not spirit's eye) ; To obtain neither (not obtain either) ; Would that all difference of sects {fiot sex) were at an end ; The magistrates stood {not magistrate stood) ; His crime moved me {not cry moved) ; My heart is awed within me {not sawed). Sound distinctly the definite article the before each word beginning with a vowel or silent k ; and make it short only before consonants ; e.g., The works of the age of c 1 8 ELOCUTION. Pericles lie at the foot of the Acropolis in indis- criminate ruin. Begin rather under the ordinary pitch of your voice than above it, as it is easier to raise than to lower the pitch, and always speak in your own natural voice. Don't assume an artificial one, or try to imitate some one else. If you have not naturally a good voice, do your best, under proper supervision, to improve it and correct its faults ; but let it always be your own and your natural voice. The voice can be raised at will to any pitch of which it is capable ; but it requires great skill and practice to lower it when once it is raised too high. Just as dangerous is the other extreme. The lower notes always tend to infuse monotony, gloom, dulness, heaviness, and a certain amount of indistinctness. "By mingling the low notes with the two other registers" (i.e., the middle and the high), says Legouv4 " my father at last succeeded in reaching that natural variety of intonations which is at once a charm for the hearer and a rest for the speaker." In connection with articulation is Pronunciation, which is a most important element, and which ought to be such as is used in the ordinary conversation of educated and well-bred persons, who are sure to have no peculiarities, vulgarisms, or false and vicious pro- vincialisms of accent. Custom is, no doubt, the arbiter of what is correct ; but then it must be the custom of the educated, not the uneducated, or worse — the half-educated portion of the community, and PRONUNCIATION. I9 among these are to be found some professed Teachers of Elocution. I have been present when such men have allowed their pupils to pronounce the words just as they please, some one way and some another, with- out attempting to correct them, either because they do not know better, or because they are afraid that a possible reference to a dictionary might expose their ignorance of the most elementary principle of their art. As the late Mr. Sergeant Cox, an able writer, says : — " Some Teachers of Elocution profess to pre- scribe rules for the guidance of the pupil, which may be correct in themselves, but the observance of which would certainly make the reader who tries to observe them an ungainly pedant, and his reading a positive pain to his audience." Another writer says : — " If anyone you know has had greater opportunity than you have had of making himself acquainted with the elegant mode of pronunciation, you ought not to be ashamed of asking his advice, whenever you entertain doubt respecting the proper pronundation of any word ; and if you can persuade him to be present whenever you speak in public, for the purpose of setting down those words which you pronounce wrong, and afterwards tell you of them, you will probably be able, in a short time, to correct yourself in such improprieties, and bring your speech to that polish and refinement, to attain which is one of the most important objects that can possibly engage your attention." The Stage, one of the leading dramatic papers, has 20 ELOCUTION. repeatedly alluded to this subject, and recommended actors to pay more attention to what is so important. If actors, or vocalists, or reciters do not choose to learn to pronounce correctly, they should, at least, see that their pronunciation is uniform. I myself have heard such words as the following pronounced within the space of a few minutes, Genoa or Gen-6a, aconite or aconite, quietus, quietus. But the most amusing instance of varied pronunciation is the following: — " A party of London glee singers met another from Yorkshire, and to these were joined a third party from Lancashire. The Londoners struck up with ' We flee by Night,' from the Witch's Glee in Macbeth, being followed by the Yorkshiremen with 'We floy by noight,' the Lancashire men responding with ' We flee by neet.' " "Articulation, accent, and correct pronunciation, purity of tone and pitch of voice, however, should be taught among the elements of education, that is, before the more advanced stage of expressive reading or of public address is taken up as a special study. When this is accomplished, the teacher of elocution will have the advantage enjoyed by the teacher of music. His pupils will know, as it were, the notes of speech, and he will have but to dictate their use and direct the learner in their execution in the inter- pretation of an author's language." After distinct articulation and correct pronun- ciation comes Expression, which deals with groups of words and the sense expressed by them when EXPRESSION. 21 combined in sentences. The basis of expression, of course, depends on a right understanding of the meaning of the sentence— the bringing out the sense and sentiment of what is read or spoken---in the clearest, fullest, most pleasing, most appropriate and most effective manner. It has been well called the soul of oratory, for without it reading, speaking, or reciting is unmeaning— ■z'^.y et prcBterea nihil. I have had arguments with many persons, some of them even Teachers of Eloeuticm, as to the possibility, or, as they declare, the impossibility of teaching expression. I unhesitatingly assert that it can be taught. I admit that every person caflnot be taught the same amiount of expression ;, but everyone has a soul, and it is the business of a teacher to get at tbai-t soul, to drag it out if necessary. But I equally admit that a teacher can do this, omly if he is of a sympathetic nature, and is capable of iinspiring at least a certain amount of interest and enthusiasm';, or, as Sir Morell Mackenzie, in his able work,, " The Hygiene of the Vocal Organs," says, " The elocution- master should possess at least some amount of that indefinable moral force known as personal magnetism." Of course, I am here assuming that the teacher really knows, what he professes, because it is a melancholy- fact, that,, as an American writer says, "outside of patent medicines, there is. no humbug so great as- characterises nine-tenths of elocutionary teaching." In connection with this I quote another passage from Sir M. Mackenzie. He is speaking, specially ^2 ELOCUTION. of training the voice in connection with singing, but his remarks apply with equal force to all kinds of teaching. " It is not every one who can sing, or who knows what good singing is, that is fit to teach the art. In addition to the qualifications which all true instructors should possess — thorough knowledge of the subject, wide experience, sound judgment, clear- ness of thought and expression, sympathetic insight, personal enthusiasm and the power of kindling it in others, combined with the patience of Job and the energy of Hercules — the singing-master must have, of course, the special qualities of his craft. The question is often debated whether the master should himself be a singer or not. Teachers naturally argue the question from the stand-point of their own personal gifts. At first sight, one is disposed to say that a singing-master who cannot sing is like the dancing-master spoken of by Swift, who had every good quality except that he was lame. This view, however, is really a fallacy akin to 'Who slays fat oxen should himself be fat' A singing-master must be able to sing at least well enough to exemplify his own precepts and show his pupils how to produce the voice and how not. He need not, however, be a brilliant performer ; indeed, I believe several of the most successful voice-trainers of the day have them- selves little or none of the divine gift which they cultivate in others. The greatest practical adepts in any art are not by any means always the best teachers of it, not merely from the lack of the TEACHING. 23 necessary patience, but from want of the power of imparting knowledge. The hone, which, although it cannot cut, can sharpen the razor ; the finger-post that shows the way, which itself can never go, are emblems of the teacher. " This may at first sight seem to be a very humble function, but it must be borne in mind that the instruction of others is as much an art sui generis as that of singing itself, and it is only by a fortunate coincidence that the capacity for both may sometimes be found in the same individual. " I hope that I shall not be understood as arguing that the less vocal ability a man has, the better he is fitted for teaching.. In arts which are learnt only by imitation, the instructor must of course be, to a great extent, a model. But apart from the fact that geniuses in their own right are seldom safe exemplars for less gifted mortals, and that their very superiority would be likely to overwhelm and dishearten their disciples, there would often seem to be a real incompatibility between practical excellence and theoretical knowledge, or the power of communi- cating it. This arises from the radical difference between the synthetic, or constructive, and the analytic, or critical type of mind. Thus learned grammarians are, as a rule, inelegant writers, and profound physiologists are not seldom indifferent doctors. Poets are by no means the best judges of verse, while the Pegasus af critics is too often of the Rosinante breed." 24 ELOCUTION. Expression depends for its effectiveness on our attending, first of all, to four points: — (i) Inflection, (2) Modulation, (3) Emphasis, (4) Pause. (i) By Inflections — the proper use, or the want, of which marks the good and intelligent reader from the uneducated or ill-taught reader — are meant, not the loudness or softness of the voice, which may accom- pany any pitch, but simply the ascents and descents of the voice, the slides from a lower to a higher, or from a higher to a lower key, which the voice makes when the pronunciation of a word is ending, as distinguished from the monotone ; e.g., Do I rise or fall ? " So important is a just mixture of the two inflections, that, the moment they are neglected, our delivery becomes forceless and monotonous." In the Rising Inflection the movement of the voice is from grave to acute. It carries on the attention of the hearer to what is to follow, and thus denotes incompleteness of statement. The Falling Inflection is from acute to grave. It directs the attention of the hearer to what has been said, and denotes complete- ness of statement. It is also used for the purpose of emphasis, giving more importance to a word than the rising inflection. The rising inflection is used at the end of the penultimate member of a sentence, or succession of sentences, in order to prepare a cadence for the close of the sentence, e.g., " Quit ye like men, be strong." Sentences which follow in the same train of thought are connected by the rising inflection, e.g., " Cast thy INFLECTION. 25 bread upon the wdters ; for thou shalt find it after many days." Interrogative sentences, beginning with verbs, to which the simple answer, "Yes," or "No," can be returned, end with a rising inflection, e.g., "Did he say he would come?" "Is the doctor at home?" " Can this be true ?" " Is this the noble Moor whom our full senate call all in all sufficient ?" " Is a candle to be put under a bushel or under a b^d?" (Here the words are in apposition — that is, they have the same relative meaning. It is usually read with the falling inflection on bed, as if there was no alternative. But the real question, as shown by the natural answer, is — " Is a candle brought to be hid under a bushel, or under a b6d [or a tdble, or a chdir]?" "No; it is brought to give light.") Interrogative sentences, beginning with pronouns or adverbs, or to which some definite answer must be given, end with the falling inflection, e.g., "Why was I born to taste this depth of woe?" "Why do you not Answer me?" "Who told you he was sick?" " Where is the man ? " When interrogative sentences, or clauses, are con- nected by the disjunctive " or," expressed or implied, the questions which precede the " or " end on the rising inflection, and those which follow end on the falling inflection, e.g., "Shall we advance or retreat?" "Will you ride or walk?" "Do the perfections of the Almighty lie dormant ? Does He possess them as if He possessed them not ? Or, are they not rather in 26 ELOCUTION. continual Exercise?" If the "or" is used conjunc- tively, it has the same inflection both before and after it, e.g., " Can wealth, or hdnour, or pleasure satisfy the soul?" "Would it make worse parents or children, husbands or wives, misters or servants, friends or neighbours, or [here, disjunctively], would it not make men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy?" Supplicating, or appealing, sentences usually take the rising inflection throughout, and the voice is usually more or less high in pitch ; but in sad or solemn appeals the pitch of voice is low, e.g., "Pity me ; hear my supplications ! " Affirmative sentences take the falling inflection. All sentences, or members of sentences, which are negative in structure, and in which the negative is emphatic, generally end with the rising inflection, e.g., " I come not, friends, to steal your hearts." Antithetic sentences — that is, those sentences in which the words or clauses are opposed or contrasted to each other in meaning — must be read with an opposition of inflection, and in different degrees of modulation ; and the first part must generally end with the rising inflection, e.g., '■' He did not call m6, but you." " Men's ^vil manners live in brdss ; their virtues we write in water." " We are always complaining our days are f6w, and dcting as though there should be no end to them." " A friend cannot be known in prosperity, and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity." Sentiments of great animation and vivacity take INFLECTION. 27 the rising inflection. Grave and earnest sentiments take generally the falling inflection. Anger, hatred, detestation, etc., take the falling inflection, and the voice, though loud in power, is pitched in the lowest key. Gloom, dejection, melancholy, etc., take the falling inflection, and the time is slow. Emotions of pleasure or tender emotion take a rising inflection, and the voice is usually pitched in keys more or less high ; but where tenderness, pity, or pathos mingle with the affection, the voice is modulated into a softer key. Wonder, amazement, surprise, take the rising inflection, and the voice is usually pitched in a very high tone, unless awe, dread, or terror mingle with the emotion, when the voice is more or less low. Authority, command, reprehension, or denunciation take the falling inflection, e.g., "Swear not at all." "Be re^dy, as your lives shall answer it." "Ye bl6cks, ye stones, ye worse than senseless things." A parenthesis suspends the sense. A parenthetic sentence must always be pronounced differently from its relative sentence (generally more rapidly and in a lighter tone), and conclude with the same time, pitch, and inflection of voice which terminates the member that immediately precedes it, e.g., " Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ?" " Laying his hand upon his breast (a slender white staff with which he journeyed being in his right), he introduced himself" When the parenthesis contains an emphatic word, the falling inflection is 28 ELOCUTION. necessary, e.g., "The man who is in the daily use of ardent spirit (if he does not become a drunkard), is in danger of losing his health and character." If a parenthesis is long, it may be pronounced with a degree of monotone or sameness of voice, e.g., ' ' His spear (to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great Admiral, were but a wand), He walked with to support uneasy steps Over the burning waste." Parenthetic sentences are preceded and followed by a pause sufficient to give them an isolated and independent character. The small intervening words "says he," "said the man," "added the speaker," must be read wLthout miodulation, following the inflection of the member which precedes thera. The Monotone, when judiciously used, is very expressive. It adds wonderful force and dignity to the delivery of passages of a solemn and elevated character, or where emotions of sublimity, awe, reverence, or terror are expressed ■„ and is very applicable to the reading of many parts of the Holy Scriptures and the Church Services. " High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormuz ok of Ind;, Or wheise: the gorgeous East, wilbi richest haad. Showers on her Kings barbaric p^rl and gdld, Satan— exdlted— sit." Here,, every word, especially of the third andi fourth ]ine„ miay be proaownced in a moniotone,, except peajtL INFLECTION. 29 and gold. " Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the High and Holy place." The Circumflex, or Compound, inflection, is a union of the rising and falling inflection, ascending and descending in what may be described as a wave of the voice, and is generally used in vehement and un- restrained utterance, or in the expression of contempt, sarcasm, derision, contrast, or reproach, but especially in irony, e.g., " Hear him, my Lords, he is w6ndrous condescending." "Sell my field \.o you ? I would not sell it to the King." In Marc Antony's oration over the body of Caesar, great effect may be added to the oft-repeated epithet " honourable man " (which is applied ironically) by the adoption of this compound inflection. An Exclamation, consisting of a word, requires the rising inflection ; but the entire exclamatory clause ends with the falling inflection, e.g., " Oh, Rome ! oh, my c6untry ! how art thou fallen." " Hark ! hark — it is the clash of arms — the bells begin to toll — He is c6ming ! he is c6ming ! — God's mercy on his s6ul." Ec/io is that repetition of a word, or thought, which immediately arises from a word, or thought, that preceded it. The echoing word ought always to be pronounced with a rising inflection in an increased tone of voice, with a long pause after it, e.g., "And this fellow calls himself a painter. A painter! He is but fit to daub the sign of a country ale-house." 30 ELOCUTION. When very emphatic, the falling inflection is preferable, e.g., " Shall I, who was born, I may almost say, but certainly brought up, in the tent of my father, that most excellent general — s/ia/l /, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations, but the Alps themselves, s/ia// J* compare myself with this half-pay captain ? A cdptain ! before whom, should one place the two armies without their ensigns, I am persuaded he would not know to which of them he is consul." (2) Modulation is the art of harmonious expression. It is the passing, not from one note to another, but from one key to another. There is nothing which contributes more to the pleasure of an audience, nothing which gives stronger proof that an orator is master of his art, than a well-regulated and expressive modulation. It should, however, not be resorted to merely for the sake of variety, but should always be subservient to the sense. A change of modulation should take place at all changes of style — at the commencement of every paragraph — and in parenthetical clauses or sentences. It should also be used to distinguish question and answer, or the different speakers in a dialogue. Every change of Modulation is usually accom- panied by changes of Tone and Time. *This second "shall I" may be regarded as emphatic, and will, therefore, take the falling inflection. MODULATION. 3 1 Tone. — Every person reads or speaks in a certain pitch or key, which may be either high or low, accord- ing to the nature of the subject. The voice has been assumed capable of assuming three such keys — the low, the high, the middle. From these, the inflections may proceed upwards or downwards, ranging from the various degrees of intonation necessary to express the different shades of passion or emotion. A dis- tinction must be drawn between the two sets of terms, high and low, loud and soft. The latter, like "Cae. forte and piano in music, denote merely the degree of force or volume of sound which may be deemed necessary to use in the same key ; while the former refer to the degrees of pitch, or acuteness, and gravity of sounds. Pitch is consequently independent of Force, though Force frequently adds much to the effect of pitch. The Low Tone falls below the usual speaking key, and is employed in expressing feelings " deeper " than ordinary — fear, secrecy, grief, sorrow, solemnity, deep- seated feeling, gloom, melancholy, and concentrated passion ; and also in the softest and deepest expression of love and veneration. The Middle Tone is the tone of habitual utterance or address unmarked by passion, and is used in ordinary conversation, narration, moral reflection, descriptive statement, or calm reasoning. The High Tone is that which rises above the usual speaking key, and is used in expressing elevated and joyous feelings, strong emotions, and impetuous, im- pulsive passion. Joy, exultation, rage, invective. 32 ELOCUTION. eagerness, threat — all speak in a high pitch. It is also proper for stirring description or animated narration. The Orotund voice, by using which a much greater volume of sound is produced than when only the lip voice is used, and which is peculiarly fitted for the expression of grand and sublime language, is pro- duced by the same organic form and action of the mouth as are necessary perfectly to enunciate the letter O. It is acquired by speaking farther back in the mouth, causing the voice to reverberate more. It should be sedulously cultivated by all public speakers, and especially by clergymen. It must, however, be carefully distinguished from the "high tone," which is an elevation of pitch, and also from " loudness," or " strength," of voice. Time is the rate of utterance. The great difficulty is to be slow and not to seem slow, to speak distinctly witht)ut appearing to drag the words, and to speak quickly without appearing to hurry. Generally, ex- planatory clauses should be pronounced in quicker tone and higher key, while parenthetical clauses should be pronounced in quicker time and lower key than the other clauses of a sentence. Time may be considered under three heads — quick, moderate and slow. Quick time is used to express joy, mirth, raillery, passion, violent anger and excited states generally. Moderate time is used in narration, de- scription, argument and unimpassioned speech. Slow time is used to express deep feeling, awe, dignity, MODULATION. 33 meditation, deliberation, grief, veneration and solemn discourse generally. The following is an example of Tone and Time combined : — High Tone. Middle Tone. Short and Quick, High and Quick. Very High and Quick. fOnce more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, \0r close the wall up | with our English d^ad. f In peace | there's nothing so becomes a man | ( As modest stillness and humility : 'But, when the blast of war breaks on our ears. Then | imitate the action of the tiger. Stiffen the sinews \ summo7i up the blood | Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rJige. ***** On, on, you noble English, Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof ! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have, in th^se parts, from m6m till e^en foilght And sheathed their swords for lack of Argument. ***** (\ see you stand like greyhounds in the slips StrAining upon the start. The game's afoot ; Follow your spirit ; and, upon this charge, Cry— God for Harry ! England, and St. George ! The next quality is Force, or Intensity, which is inseparable from Earnestness. It is the invariable characteristic of the speaker who, in treating of important or momentous matters, is himself alive to his subject, and whose feelings are interested in what he is uttering. Where life and soul and true passion are, there must be force both of voice and action ; but this does not mean loudness or violence. Force depends upon the pressure of the breath. It is an entirely different quality from modulation or pitch. A low key may be accompanied by extreme 34 ELOCUTION. force, or a high key by feeble force. Force, under proper management, gives volume and dignity, whether the tones be high or low. Force relates to space and power ; loudness relates to distance. The next point to be noticed is (3) Emphasis. The importance of it is such that, if it is not placed on the correct word, the meaning of the passage will be completely altered, e.g., " Pilate saith unto them, Take j/e Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him;" le., Pilate desired them to do, as their own act and on their own responsibility, what he himself saw no reason for doing. But if the emphasis be placed not on " ye," but on " fault," the sense would be that Pilate told them to crucify Jesus because he was persuaded of His innocence. Every sentence, or expression of thought, has some principal word, or words, which should be emphasized or rendered prominent by superior accent or stress. Emphasis points out the real meaning of a sentence. It has the power to make long and complex sentences appear intelligible and perspicuous ; but an excess of it must be avoided. Emphasis is either " absolute " or " relative.'' The former occurs in the utterance of a single thought or feeling of great energy ; the latter, in the correspond- ence, or contrast, of two or more ideas. Absolute emphasis is either " impassioned " or " distinctive." EMPHASIS. 35 The former expresses strong emphasis ; but the latter designates objects, e.g., " The fall of man is the main object of Milton's great poem." " Relative " emphasis occurs in words which express comparison, corres- pondence, or contrast, e.g., " Cowards die manyWvaes ; the brave but once!' Words may be emphasized in various ways : by an increased stress on the emphatic word ; by varying the inflection, to denote antithesis, doubt, &c. ; by varying the time, that is, lengthening or shortening the word ; by altering the pitch to express any sudden emotion, or changing from one note to another ; by the monotone, to give expression to sublime or solemn passages ; by the pause. A repetition of emphatic words or phrases requires a rising inflection, accompanied by increased force of utterance, e.g., " You ruined my son. You, Sir ! " In the climax of a sentence there is a gradual increase of emphatic force in the voice to the end, the last clause being accompanied by a pause before each member. When any word or phrase is made use of for the purpose of expressing some particular meaning, not arising obviously from the words, it should be marked by a strong emphasis, e.g., "To BE, contents his natural desire." In order to exemplify the difference in the meaning of a sentence by emphasizing certain words, I will give three examples : — " Of man's first disobedience . . . . Brought death into the world." By emphasizing "man's," we imply that there were 36 ELOCUTION. originally other beings besides man who had disobeyed the command of the Almighty. By emphasizing "first," we imply that mankind had transgressed more than once. By emphasizing " death," we imply that death had before been an unheard-of punish- ment, but had been brought upon man in consequence of his sins. If we emphasize " world," we imply that mankind knew there was such an evil in other regions, but that the place which they inhabited had been free from it till their transgression. Will you go to town to-day ? i.e.. Will you, or will you not go. Will you go to town to-day ? i.e., Will you, or somebody else go. Will you go to town to-day ? i.e., Will you go, or will you stay. Will you go to town to-day ? i.e.. Will you go to, or from town. Will you go to town to-day ? i.e., to town, or to some- where else. Will you go to town to-day f i.e., to-day or some other day. "Perdition catch my soul but I do love thee." If the word " love " is emphasized, as it usually is, the peculiar force and beauty of the line are lost ; but if the word " do " is emphasized, the vehemence of the speaker's affection is much better marked, signifying, as it then does, an act of the strongest affirmation. The following are given as among the answers which I have at times returned to correspondents, whose guides have, in too many cases, been leaders — or misleaders — of the blind. In the following passage the emphasis is on the EMPHASIS. 37 words italicised : — " Oh, now you weep, and I perceive you feel the dint of pity. — These are gracious drops. Kind souls ! What ! weep you when you but behold our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you heref — here is himself- — marred, as you see, by traitors." In the following the emphasis is not on " men " (which would imply that you may quarrel with women), but on " all " {i.e., all mankind). " As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." In " Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day," the emphasis is not on "day," as that would imply that the " night " might be differently occupied, but on " Sabbath." It was all very well for Sydney Smith, on one occasion, to give out as his text — " Oh that men would praise the Lord," when there were only three men present. He was a born humorist, and the occasion, was exceptional. But it is dangerous to imitate such a man, and would be apt to lead to unfavourable comparisons. The emphatic words in the verse are " praise " and " wonders." " Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and declare the wonders He doeth for the children of men." As a general rule, however, the use of the Rhetorical Pause is preferable to emphasis, as not only not necessitating an undue effort with the voice, but as enabling the speaker to regain breath. (4) The Rhetorical Pause. This pause differs from the grammatical pause in 38 ELOCUTION. this, that the latter refers to the synthetical structure of a sentence, and is addressed to the eye of the reader ; while the rhetorical pause is one which is addressed to the understanding " through the porches of the ear." It is independent of, though consistent with and assistant to, the grammatical pause. The first leading principle of rhetorical punctuation is keeping together the groups of words between stops, and not mixing up a word of one group with the preceding or subsequent group. The duration of pauses must be regulated by the nature of the composition, and by the conception, feeling and aim of the speaker. They are long in solemn, short in lively, style. Without them, the most solemn passage of Scripture, and also the poetry of Milton, produce no effect, comparatively, on the mind ; while reading, aided by their "expressive silence," seems to be inspired with an unlimited power over the sympathies of the soul.* " One of the worst faults a speaker can have is to make no other pauses than what he finds barely necessary for breathing. I know of nothing that such a speaker can so properly be compared to as an * The value of pauses was once exemplified in a somewhat humorous fashion. Alluding to the expediency of registering a short telegraphic address for "The House of Commons," a Member created great laughter by omitting the pause and saying — " Could we not say, sir, Short Commons?" On another occasion, an actor gave an entirely wrong meaning to two words by neglecting a pause. When "Dull," a constable, entered and asked, "Which is the Duke's own person ? " the actor replied, pointing to the King, " This fellow." PAUSES. 39 alarm bell, which, when once set agoing, clatters on till the weight that moves it is run down. Without pauses, the sense must always appear confused and obscure, and often be misunderstood ; and the spirit and energy of the piece must be wholly lost. It is by no means sufficient to attend to the points used in printing, for these are far from marking all the pauses which ought to be made in speaking. A mechanical attention to these has been one chief cause of monotony. In reading, it may often be proper to make sometimes a considerable pause where the grammatical construction requires none at all." The correct reading of a passage often depends on this pause, as, for example, the following lines from the speech of Shylock : — "Signor Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me.'' It may be read either — • "Signor Antonio, many a time and oft — In the Rialto you have rated me ; " or in the following manner, which is the more effective and rational way — " Signor Antonio, many a time — and oft In the Rialto you have rated me." Again, Douglas is often made, by those who pay a too slavish regard to punctuation, to the ruin of the sense and the effect, to say — "We fought and conquered ere a sviford was drawn An arrow from my bow had pierced their chief;!' 40 ELOCUTION. instead of — "We fought and conquered — ere a sword was drawn, An arrow from my bow had pierced Iheir chief." In the following, two different readings may be given by altering the place of this pause. " Hang out your banners — on the outward walls. The cry is— 'Still they come.'" or The cry is still — 'They come.'" The last is, perhaps, the preferable reading. In making the pauses, the voice should be held suspended to show that something is coming. Pause after the nominative when it consists of more than one word, e.g., "The fashion of this world | passeth away." " To be virtuous [ is to be happy." Pause after the emphatic word,, or after each member of a series, e.g., "Adversity | is the school of piety." " And Nathan said unto David : Thou | art the man." " Charity | joy | peace | patience | are Christian ornaments of the soul." Any clause or member of a sentence coming between the nominative and the verb is of the nature of a parenthesis, and must be separated from both by a short pause, e.g., " Trials | in this state of being I are the lot of men." " Talents | without applica- tion I are no security for progress in learning." Pause after each adjective belonging to one sub- stantive except the last, e.g., "Let but one brave | great | active | disinterested man arise." Pause wherever transposition of phrases' may take PAUSES. 41 place, e.g., " Through dangers the most appalling | he advanced with heroic intrepidity." Pause before an adjective following its noun, e.g., " Hers was a soul | replete with every noble quality." " He was a man | learned and polite." Pause where an ellipis, or omission of words, takes place, e.g., "To your elders manifest becoming deference, to your companions | frankness, to your juniors | condescension." Pause before a verb in the infinitive, governed by another verb, e.g., " The General now commanded his reserve force | to advance to the aid of the main body." Words or phrases in opposition, or when the latter only explains the former, have a short pause between them, e.g., "He | raised a mortal to the skies. She | drew an angel down." " Hope | the balm of life | soothes us under every misfortune." Pause before relative pronouns, prepositions, con- junctions, or adverbs used conjunctively, when followed by a clause depending on them, e.g., "A Physician was called in | who prescribed appropriate remedies." " Death is the season | which brings our affections to the test." " Nothing is in vain | that rouses the soul." Pause before t/iat when it is used as a conjunction, as also before the adverbs wken and whence, if used in the same sense, e.g., " It is only in society | that we can relish these joys which embellish and gladden the life of man." "'Tis now the very witching hour of night j when churchyards yawn," 42 ELOCUTION. When a pause is necessary at conjunctions and prepositions, it must be befor?, and not after them, e.g., " We must not conform to the world | in its amusements." " There is an inseparable connec- tion I between piety and virtue." The words du( and /lence, when standing at the beginning of important clauses, require a pause after them. To give an important idea the greatest force, it is necessary to pause a little before it, in order to pre- pare the audience for it, and excite their attention ; and it is necessary to pause a little after it, that it may have time to sink into the minds of the hearers, before another thought comes on. " In pausing, ever let this rule take place, Never to separate words in any case That are less separable than those you join ; And, which imports the same, not to combine Such words together, as do not relate So closely as the words you separate." READING. 43 READING. I HAVE hitherto dwelt on the Speaker rather than on the Reader. But while the -same rules naturally hold good for both, the Reader has this one drawback, that he must sometimes fix his eyes on his book. Let him, therefore, accustom himself to gather in at a glance an entire sentence or clause, and then let him look at his audience, inasmuch as the eyes of a Speaker have a wonderful effect in attracting and detaining attention. " There is a rhetoric in the eye." The expressive power of the human eye is so great, that it determines, in a manner, the expression of the whole countenance. Reading is necessarily more restrained than speaking, but it is advisable to cultivate acute sensibility in both. Reading should have a dra- matic character, which is not of necessity theatrical. Animated, earnest, expressive reading, is not theatri- cal. It is like the conversation of an earnest person, thinking to himself aloud ; but if overdone, the charm is gone. "The sense should be studied thoroughly, by attention to the various positions of the verbs, and their nominatives, especially ; then to the conjunctions, relative pronouns, adverbs and prepositions, as being the next most important parts of speech. By these particulars learn and grasp each period, and from them pass to paragraphs, until you can master the comprehensive whole of all the matter before you. 44 ELOCUTION. and thus give the ruling passion or prevailing sentiment." Strive that your reading shall seem as little like reading, and as much like speaking, as possible. " The objection to reading sermons, simply because the preacher has never been taught the proper style of reading, has seriously impaired their quality ; but the cure for bad reading is good reading, and, as all men cannot be orators, they should be all the more careful to read oratorically ; and if students were trained properly in this art, the sermons would certainly become improved, and the preachers would cease to be characterised as the most ineffective of speakers." Dramatic Reading. — By this, says an able writer on public speaking, I do not merely mean the reading of the drama, whether it be or be not a drama in name or form. Wherever there is dialogue there is drama. Two human beings cannot be brought into communica- tion without a drama being enacted. For the right reading of dialogue you must, first, comprehend distinctly the characters supposed to be speaking in the drama. Next, you must thoroughly understand the meaning of the words the author has put into their mouths, that is to say, what thoughts those words were designed to express. This fancy portrait will suggest the manner of speaking. Then, clearly comprehending the meaning of the words, and feeling the emotions, and thinking the thoughts, you will naturally utter them in the. right tones and with the true emphasis. Until you have attained to the ready READING VERSE. 45 use of this faculty of personation, you cannot be a good reader of a dialogue. A few words on Reading Verse, than which, as De Quincey says, " No accomplishment is so rare." It is evident that a thorough grasp of the meaning and often the grammar of a sentence, as well as some little practice, will be needed before the reader acquires the habit of separating and grouping his words correctly. Several amusing instances are recorded of the various readings which have, on various occasions, been popularly received in consequence of absurd errors in this respect. For example, Macbeth has been made to say :— " Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand ? No — these my hands will rather The multitudinous sea incarnadine Making the green-one — red." By reading it rationally, and making the pause, as it ought to be made, after " green " — " making the green — one red " — we express the full power and beauty of the thought. Another passage is : — " West of the town — a mile among the rocks — Two hours ere noon to-morrow I expect thee." Read thus, the idea is conveyed, if the words read thus can convey any idea at all, that they would have to scramble a mile over rocks, situated at the west of the town, instead of the rational idea that the place of meeting was among some particular rocks "west of the town a mile." The principal faults to be guarded against are : — Missing Page Missing Page 48 ELOCUTION. WANT OF EXPRESSION IN ELO- CUTION—WHO IS TO BLAME? The Professional Musicians have formed themselves into a National Society, one of the objects of which is to confer on members a species of certificate as to technical capacity. There are swarms of teachers who are utterly ignorant of the very elements of their art, and who bring disgrace upon what is necessarily, in a certain sense, an educated and cultivated profession. Would that something of the kind could be done in reference to those who hold themselves out as Teachers of Elocution. If the majority of them would read a leading article which recently appeared in the Times, they would find and, perhaps, might take to heart the following sentence, applied to men of higher standing and attainments than most of them can boast of: — "There is more bad teaching than good teaching, and the majority of teachers are no better than indifferent." In proof of my assertion that most of them are ignorant of what they profess to teach, I will state that I have more than once been told that in articulation and in- flections — about which last, by the way, many of them know practically as little as a hen knows of its grandmother — was comprised the whole secret of the Art of Elocution. Such qualities as expres- EXPRESSION. 49 sion, grace, intelligence, feeling, spirit, etc., seem to be either despised or ignored. Without these attri- butes, reciting simply resolves itself into a feat of memory ; and it is probably for this reason that recitations, which, when well given, are so much liked, have added a new terror to life when uttered by those who almost ostentatiously manifest that indifference to the graces which alone render them tolerable. When attacked. Reciters, as a rule, defend them- selves by saying that Elocution cannot be taught. They are right so far, that, unless a person has a soul, all the teaching in the world will not put one into him ; but training can do as much for a person who aspires to become a public speaker as for one who wishes to be a vocalist, and to say the contrary argues either ignorance or conceit. Diffidence is not generally a vice inherent in human nature, but it seems to be more conspicuous by its absence in those who hold themselves out as reciters than even in vocalists, who certainly cannot be accused of a want of self-assertion ; because even the most self-complacent vocalist knows that at least a certain amount of preliminary training is requisite, whereas the would-be reciter, if he has only committed some pieces to memory, the longer the better, feels ready to echo King John's boast — " Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we will shock them;" and the result most frequently is very shocking. Training can bring out and direct aright what is 50 ELOCUTION. latent, crude, unpolished, or rough ; which brings me back to what I began with, that a man can teach only what he knows. LIFELESS DELIVERY. One of his fighting heroes is described by the Greek poet Homer as "sending his soul in every dart he threw." He did not merely send or hurl the dart, but he hurled it with all his soul and strength. I would impress these words upon all who have to speak before public audiences, whether as Members of Parliament, Preachers, Lecturers, Actors, or Reciters. Now, I am not going to depreciate Elocution. I admit — nay, more, I maintain — that no one can be a really good actor ; no man can preach a sermon in such a manner as to excite the interest of his hearers, or leave any impression on their minds ; no public speaker, whether on the platform or in a court of law, can persuade his hearers, or prepossess them ; no one can give a good poetical or prose recitation in such a manner as to cause even the minimum of pleasure, without being a good Elocutionist. What was thought of Elocution by Rachel, perhaps one of the grandest actresses who ever appeared on the French stage, is proved by the fact that she studied with her Elocution Master, Legouv^ a certain passage of thirty lines for three hours, until she had mastered every shade of inflection, before she con- sidered herself prepared to face her audience. LIFELESS DELIVERY. SI Clearness of articulation, modulation, right em- phasis, proper inflections, correct pronunciation, appropriate and graceful gestures, are all required by public speakers. But, assuming that all these necessary qualities have been acquired, there is something more needed, and that is soul and ear- nestness. The most gifted actors and reciters, unless they have soul, will fail to please as much as they would otherwise do. I will assume that there is not a single person who reads this who has not, at least once in his or her life, got into a passion. At all events, if anyone will deny this, I will reply either that I do not believe it, or else that such an abnormal and apathetic nature is incapable of understanding, and still less of appreciating, what I want to impress on my readers. Well, have you not felt, at such a time, that you had a strength and a force, and even an eloquence, of which you had before not thought yourselves capable, and at which you may even look back with surprise ? Why is this? Simply because you had, for the time, lost your usual phlegmatic condition ; be- cause your feelings were excited ; because, in short, you felt intensely. I must, however, remind you that violence is not soul ; it is only physical exertion. But intensity, being more of a mental quality, is a very good imitation of soul, and, in fact, necessarily implies a certain quantity of it. Now, in acting and reciting — and in the following remarks I speak more especially of those who practise 52 ELOCUTION. these Arts — you have to personate characters who are supposed to be actuated by such various feelings as kindness, love, anger, malice, jealousy, dignity, &c. Do not, then, act these Various characters as if there was but little difference between them ; do not act them as if you were merely repeating , words, or as if you did not know or feel the difference between the various characters you were depicting; but act them as if you really felt what you were saying. Lose yourself in your character. Put life and soul and heart into your impersonations. I have heard that soul-stirring poem, "The Revenge," recited in such a listless and soulless manner as to excite no feeling in me but indifference, or rather annoyance that the reciter was not doing justice to the words and the spirit of the poem. And I have heard the " Defence of Lucknow " — which, with all due de- ference, I consider too wordy and long-winded, and therefore losing, by so much, in point and fire — given in such a manner as to send, at one moment, the blood to my cheeks, and, at another, the tears to my eyes. But this sin of flabbiness is not confined to Reciters. It is one of the greatest failings of the Stage in the present day. And so universal appears to be the craze on the part of Actors for that " nerveless and colourless thing mistakenly called ' natural acting,' " that they refuse to recognise the right of the public to what it can appreciate — life-like acting. The hearty applause with which the public greets any actor who displays animation and LIFELESS DELIVERY. S3 vivacity seems to be beyond the comprehension of those who think they know better what the pubHc ought to Hke than does the pubhc itself. I have also sometimes heard Actors say, "What is the use of worrying myself about my part ? It is only a small one;" or, "the others are such a set of duffers." This is a mistake. No matter how small your part may be, try to make the very most of it you can without, however, overdoing it. Try to play it as well as ever you can. Your effort will, in the first place, be recognised and appreciated by the audience and the critics; and, in the second place, your effort will most probably stimulate the others and cause them to play up to you. Charles Reade, in noticing some rather slighting criticisms on Foul Play, '' as a piece which was respectebly written, but poorly acted," after standing up manfully, as he always did, for those who served him loyally, concludes with these words — " I hope that, should your critic re-visit the theatre, he will come round to my opinion — that Foul Play owes a large share of its success to the talent and zeal of the performers, and especially of those who play the small characters." 54 ELOCUTION. PULPIT ELOCUTION. Passive resistance is of all forces the most difficult to overcome. This is, perhaps, most clearly seen in the case of Elocution in the Pulpit. Clergymen generally appear to be so absolutely convinced that whatever they say there will be attentively, and ought to be submissively, heard, that it but seldom occurs to them to consider the manner in which it should be de- livered. During any of the ordinations, how many can read the prayers or deliver a sermon with grace, dignity, or impressiveness ? I will undertake to say not five per cent. The reading of the Liturgy and the Sermon presents too often a lamentable want of the very elements of rational and intelligent reading or speaking. Modulation is often ignored ; while the inflections are mangled and distorted in the most reckless manner, sometimes to the partial obscuring and even altera- tion of the sense. At one church we hear the prayers gabbled through ; at another, mumbled through ; at a third, drawled through ; at a fourth, ranted through. These defects are more noticeable in the Prayers ; but in the Sermon they none the less exist, with one of three results — either that few persons listen to the Sermon ; or that they are less impressed by it than they would be if the preacher had a good delivery ; PULPIT ELOCUTION. SS or that they stop away. As for the gestures which I have seen in the pulpit, words fail me to describe them. Quite recently I attended the funeral of a man for whom I had the greatest regard, but the Burial Service — perhaps the most sublime composition in the English language — was read in such a drawling, soulless manner, as not to touch me at all ; while upon only one occasion have I really been moved by the dignity, the pathos, the grace, which were infused into that service by the reader. Among my latest experiences of pulpit elocution, was that of a clergy- man — an able man, of good education and family — who apparently did not know what to do with his voice. His ideas of modulation and inflection were so vague — if, indeed, he knew anything of them at all — as to render several of his sentences ludicrous, while his reading of the prayers was such as to cause one's attention, instead of being fixed on them, to be distracted by a mental criticism of his mode of reading them. Another clergyman seemed not to know what to do with his body. For the first part of the sermon, he stood leaning forward on his two hands, an injurious as well as ungraceful attitude, swaying and jerking his body about in the most extraordinary and unmeaning manner. After warm- ing to his work, he indulged in occasional gestures, which were, in almost every case, both ungraceful and wrong. If clergymen could only realise the feelings of most of their auditors, they would, I should hope, 56 ELOCUTION, adopt the advice of some of the ablest and most eloquent members of their own body—Rev. Charles Simeon, Archbishop Thomson, Professors Blunt, Blair, Rev. Dr. Guthrie, etc.— who have taken care to im- press upon them advice similar to that given by Dr. Johnson to a young clergyman — "Delivery is more potential than eloquent matter." And the Rev, John Wesley, the celebrated preacher, said : " Take care of anything awkward or affected in your gesture, phrase, or pronunciation." The young divinity student spends years in training his faculties and storing his mind with knowledge of all kinds. The great object of his life is to communicate thoughts to the minds of others, to awaken their feelings, to arouse and direct the determination of their wills. And yet the means by which he can best carry out his views are sedulously neglected. Of course, no amount of elocutionary study will alone make a man a good preacher ; but, assuming that a young man has those attainments of mind and qualities of character which fit him for the ministry, the study of Elocution, under an intelligent teacher, will enable him to bring out, in an attractive form, the thoughts and emotions which are already in his mind. To overlook manner is a proof neither of piety, dignity, nor wisdom. Until the preacher has this power of expressing, through voice and manner, what is in him, no matter how wise and good he may be, he will be unfitted for his office. Indistinct articulation, false tones, wrong emphasis, an undeveloped and im- properly managed voice, a lifeless, unmeaning manner THE PRAYER BOOK. 57 and delivery, are to the preacher what bad grammar, a scanty vocabulary, inelegant and confused sentences are to an author. " Not one clergyman in a hundred," says an able writer, " can read a chapter correctly — meaning, by that term, with right expression of the sense as distinguished from the graces of expression. Not one in a thousand can read effectively as well as correctly. So with the Prayer Book. How seldom are the services delivered as they should be The services, recited so often, come so readily to the lips of the clergyman, who reads them three or four times a-week, that there is a natural tendency to utter them mechanically, without first passing them through the mind. Hence the mannerisms of which he is so unconscious. As once read, so they are always, and if the habit be not early wrestled with, it becomes incurable. The only remedy is the presence of an inexorable critic, who shall stop you when you are faulty, and make you repeat the sentence till you read it rightly ; or an able professional teacher, who will not merely detect your errors, but show you how you ought to read, and thus substitute his style for yours. Mannerism is more frequent in reading the Prayers than even in the reading of the Bible. The groaning style is the favourite one. Why should it be deemed necessary to address the Deity as if you had a stomach-ache ? Yet thus do ninety-nine out of every hundred in the pulpit or in family prayer. There is a tone of profound reverence most proper to be assumed in prayer, and which, indeed, if the prayer 58 ELOCUTION. IS felt at the moment of utterance, it is almost im- possible not to assume. But that is very different, indeed, from the sepulchral and stomachic sounds usually emitted." "One thing has been clearly demonstrated," says the late Rev. Henry Christmas, F.R.S., Editor Church of England Quarterly Review, " that if manner be not of as much importance as matter, it ought at all events not to be neglected. But is a good manner in the pulpit a thing to be acquii'ed? Can the stiff, dry, cold way of one man be transformed into stately dignity ; the loose, slovenly, lounging deportment of another, into graceful ease? Are there instructors who would be of assistance in accomplishing such transformation? We reply to all these questions — Yes. Not, indeed, in all cases, but in the great majority. A poor soil may be cultivated, and a poor mind, within certain limits, enriched. A person already placed in the position of a clergyman, and for whom it is too late to say, ' I am unfit for my office,' may yet be rendered far more fit for the office than perhaps he himself even suspects. It is understood that he is a conscientious man ; that he studies, prays and diligently performs those routine duties which some exa'lt as being the loftiest and most important which devolve upon him ; but he is discouraged by finding his inefficiency in the pulpit so conspicuous as it is. He is candid enough and intelligent enough to see this, and earnest and faithful enough to deplore it. Let not a man so situated despair. The case of PULPIT ELOCUTION. 59 Demosthenes may comfort him, and the means used by that greatest of orators may have a similar effect upon him." Let him declaim before a looking-glass, and see for himself how awkward, unnatural and strained is his delivery ; let him obtain the aid of some intelligent and plain-spoken friend to criticise him as he proceeds, "and he will soon find that a rough, coarse, slovenly, or a stiff, stilted, unnatural manner and action are not incurable evils. It may be objected that all this is troublesome. Of course it is, and, if the services of a competent instructor be secured, expensive too ; but the results will be well worth paying for. The person previously so justly dissatisfied with himself will begin to find his useful- ness increase ; and if he dare not hope that he shall find ' truths divine come mended from his, tongue,' at least he will find them come, not deformed or disguised." Preachers, however, fear to study Elocution, because the result may be, and in the hands of certain teachers seems to be, the acquiring an artificial manner. They seem to think that it is better to be ineffective than artificial. But this feeling, though right and commendable, is founded on an entire misconception of the purpose of studying the Art of Elocution, the object of which is, shortly, to make the speaker pay more attention both to the meaning of what he is saying and to the manner in which that meaning should be conveyed to others. The object of the true teacher is, not to teach the pupil to feign 6o ELOCUTION. feelings, but to develop his powers of expression, and make him better able to represent what he actually feels. Such faults of manner as are to be observed in almost every preacher ought to be eradicated, for in what else, except public speaking, does a man ever take credit for not attempting to do well what is the chief business of his life ? And yet there are those who boast of never having studied Elocution, as if such neglect was meritorious, and as if those who pursued a different course rendered themselves open to the suspicion of insincerity and self-seeking. The Rock, in noticing the above, says : — " Mr. Garry's paper on Pulpit Elocution contains some sound advice, and some caustic criticism ; but do ninety-nine out of every hundred clergymen, in reading the Prayers, address the Deity as if they had the stomach-ache ? " This statement is not mine, but that of a man whose eloquence draws together larger congregations than almost any Church of Ei.gland clergyman can point to. I heard a clergyman recently, when reading the Prayer for Parliament, emphasize the word " and " in the expression " peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety." Another read his sermon in a tone of stilted affectation. A third intoned the Prayers in a manner which promised him a speedy experience of " clergyman's sore throat." As has been said, " As it is much easier to intone the Service toler- ably than to read it tolerably, many young clergymen attempt to intone. The result frequently is a good deal INTONING. 6l of harsh, dissonant sound, very annoying to those among the congregation who are gifted with musical ears." " Mr. Rupert Garry, in a Httle volume just published by him, tells us that he recently heard a clergyman, in reading a Prayer for Parliament, emphasize the conjunctions on each occasion in the expression, ' peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety.' It would, perhaps, be hard to say whether this was a worse offence than that of the young lady who, in playing 'Ophelia,' asked her brother not to show her ' the steep and thorny way to heaven,' with such special emphasis on the adjectives that, as some one observes, it might be thought there was a secret ' primrose path ' leading in the same direction, which ' Laertes ' was selfishly reserving for his own private use. Perhaps the clergyman's misplaced emphasis may have been 'meant sarcastic,' but was certainly mischievous ; for these are not times in which it is advisable to suggest that in Parliament peace and happiness are very different things. As to the implied disassociation of ' truth and justice, religion and piety,' everyone must judge for himself Mr. Garry's com- plaints of the tone of ' stilted affectation ' in which some preachers deliver sermons, and the painfully unsuccessful efforts of others to intone, belong to a different category. They will awaken painful remin- iscences among the members of many afiflicted congregations." — Daily News Leaderette, Feb. 2, 1888. 62 ELOCUTION. HINTS TO AMATEUR ACTORS. When it is almost impossible to open a local paper without finding a notice of some amateur dramatic performance, it may not be altogether a matter of supererogation to offer a few remarks — and even to give a little good advice — on the subject of Amateur Acting. One fault of amateurs is that they too frequently select pieces, not on account of their suitability to the company which intends to play them, but because they have seen them represented on the professional stage. Consequently, they try merely to copy what they have seen, with the almost inevitable result that they fail much more than if they had studied for themselves the character allotted to them, forming their own ideas upon it, and acting upon those ideas. No doubt some might fail from an inadequate, or even a wrong, conception of the char- acter, as is often the case among more experienced professionals ; but yet the acting would be less stiff and unnatural than when it is simply the result of imitation. If amateurs followed this plan, and worked with zeal as well as intelligence, we should see, not only much less staginess and awkwardness, but perhaps even more freshness and originality in the delineation of character. Aspirants, whether amateur or pro- fessional, should endeavour to form their own style. To become a servile copyist, a mere imitator or AMATEUR ACTOR. 63 mimic, is to stifle the individuality which belongs to each person, and which, when properly developed, alone ensures excellence; but without elocutionary study, and a knowledge of declamation, none can arrive at real excellence. It was after writing this I came across the following by Mr. Henry Irving, in a speech made at the close of his reading for the School of Expression in Boston. He said : " Good acting is not declamation, but the expression of character, and the actor's aim is not to imitate this style or that, but to cultivate his own resources of impersonation. It appears to me, while not claiming to be an authority, that the danger in teaching elocution is that some formal and artificial method should supersede nature. But in this school you seek to avoid that danger by the recognition of the principle that all good speaking comes from the training of the faculties of the mind." In a leading literary paper I found the following: — "Let the amateur actor select with what discrimination he may from among the plays known to the public, but give the time and labour he now expends on learning the tricks of some favourite model in the profession to forming his own conception and a style of his own. He must not flatter himself that he will be able to do this on the spur of the moment. He will have to study acting instead of confining his observations to one actor, and to do so with advantage he must use all his intelligence and powers of dis- crimination. But he will also find it much more 64 ELOCUTION. interesting, and when he has succeeded in making a character his own, he will probably succeed in repre- senting it with ease and fidelity." The usual plan, however, is for amateurs to place themselves in the hands of a professional actor — so long as he is " professional " they do not seem to care whether he is capable or incapable — by whom they are crammed with his own notions on one particular play. The result can be imagined, so that the outside public scrupulously avoid amateur dramatic performances. A small book recently published by George Bell & Sons, containing a list of lOO plays, entitled, " What Shall we Act," by M. E. James, will prove an excellent guide to the selection of suitable plays for amateurs. In addition to those mentioned there, the following will be found well adapted for the same purpose : — A Morning- Call, by Dance, i m. i f ; Two o'clock in the Morning, by C. J. Matthews, 2 m. ; Happy Pair, by Theyre Smith, i m. i f ; Which is Which, by Theyre Smith, 3 m. 3 f. ; The Dumb Belle, by Bernard, 3 m. 2 f ; Barbara, by Jerome, 2 m. 2 f ; In Honour Bound, by Grundy, 2 m. 2 f ; Who Speaks First, by Dance, 3 m. 2 f. ; Hearts are Trumps, by Lemon, 6 m. 2 f ; All is not Gold that Glitters, by Morton, 6 m. 3 f ; Poetic Proposal, 3 m. 2 f Farces. — Tom Noddy's Secret, by Bayly, 3 m. 2 f ; A Merry Moment, by Lestocq, 3 m. 2 f ; Chiselling, by Dalley, 3 m. 2 f ; The Bengal Tiger, by Dance, 4 m. 2 f ; The Windmill, by Morton, 4 m. 3 f ; Stage Struck, 5 m. 3 f. ; High Life Below Stairs, PLAYS FOR AMATEURS. 6$ 6 m. 4 f. ; A Day Well Spent, by Oxenford, 6 m. 5 f. ; A Blighted Being; 4 m. i f. ; Kleptomama, by McCrk Melford, 6 m. 5 f. ; Engaged, by W. S. Gilbert, 5 m. 5 f. While for those who want to play merely short scenes in drawing-rooms or at miscellaneous enter- tainments, the following may be found useful. A scene for lady and gentleman, from A Morning Call (itself a bright one-act comedietta for m. and f), " So, my gentlemen, I am to surrender There will come a day of reckoning." Short scene for lady and gentleman, from Time Tries All, by Courtney, " I want to see the governor savings bank." Scene for two gentlemen, from The Poor Gentleman (comedy), by Colman. Scene for one gentleman and two ladies, from Perfection (comedy). Sc. 4, "Servant shows in Sir Charles (p. 17) . . . . . to a fraction of a woman." Scene for one lady anci gentleman, from The Honeymoon (comedy), by Tobin, Act II., Sc. i, which can be run into Act II., Sc. 4. Scene for one lady and two gentlemen, from Betsy Baker (farce), "Too attentive by half (p. 6) . . . . . too late from Mrs. Major-General Jones." Scene for one lady and one gentleman, from The Unfinished Gentleman (a farce), by Selby, Scene i. Scenes for three gentlemen, irom John Bull, by Colman, Act I., Sc. 2 ; also, Act HI., Sc. 3 (down to " it's the most uneasy for you of any in the room") ; for four gentle- men, Act I., Sc. 4, "Don't take on so must ever meet their recompense." Scene for one lady and 66 ELOCUTION. one gentleman, from The Love Chase, by Knowles, part of Act II., Sc. 3. Scene for one lady and two gentlemen, from The Victor Vanquished (comedy), by Dance, " I have been fooling a life of far more value than my own." Scene for two gentlemen, from The Wife, by Knowles, Act iv., Sc. 3. Scene for two gentlemen, from Man of the World, by Macklin, "Zounds, sir, I will not hear a word about it boasted liberties of the Great Mogul." Scene for one lady and one gentleman, from The Hunchback, by Knowles, Act IV., Sc. I. Scene for two ladies and three gentle- men, from Black-Eyed Susan, Act I., Sc. 2. Smart little scene for one lady and one gentleman, from Money, by Lytton, Act III., Sc. 5. Short scene for one lady and two gentleman, from The Rent Day, by Jerrold, Act I., Sc. 3. Scene for four ladies and two gentlemen, from Time Works Wonders, by Jerrold. Scene for two ladies and one gentleman, from Tfie Rivals. Scene for two gentlemen, from A Blighted Being (farce), by Taylor, " fialloa ; here's the latest news Can you trifle thus with a misery like mine." Scene for one lady and two gentlemen, from The Heir-at-Law, by Colman, Act I., Sc. I, "But what does it matter ... I attend your lordship." The part of " John," which is very small, can be cut out. Scene for two gentlemen. Act II., Sc. 2, " Let the chariot turn about I'm gone." The waiter can be supposed to be " off." Scene Ibr two ladies and one gentleman, AMATEUR ACTORS. 6/ from The Lady of Lyons, by Lytton", " Sweet Prince, tell me again of thy palace," Act li. Sc. i, on again to Act III., Sc. 2. Scene for one lady and one gentleman, from The School for Scandal, by Sheridan. (i) Have a good stage manager, who must be good- tempered and firm, but not good-natured and obsti- nate. Let him show that his will is law, and that his arrangements must be carried out. If he does not prove fit for the duties, if he is always altering the arrangements of the previous day, he should at once be superseded by some competent person. Such changes are not only extremely irritating, but are absolutely confusing to the actors, and detrimental to the smooth performance of the play. Audiences quickly spot defective stage management and want of careful and intelligent rehearsals. The stage manager ought to be strong enough to restrain the ill-regulated enthusiasm of those who, having but small parts, want to obtrude themselves on the audi- ence. To play a small part properly at first is the only way to learn how to play bigger parts after- wards. Modesty, patience, and perseverance should be the motto of all actors. N.B. — The stage manager should never take a part in the play. (2) Then get a good prompter, whose duty it should be to attend every rehearsal, for he ought to study every actor so as to learn their peculiarities and their " business," also, when a pause is made, to know whether it is intentional and done for effect, or is due to failure of memory. He should also have his copy carefully 68 ELOCUTION. and clearly marked with notes as to entrances, exits, " business," and, above all, he should have the actors ready at the wings to go on at the exact instant. (3) Let each performer learn his part by heart as quickly and correctly as possible, so that the entire attention may be given to the performance of the character, otherwise the piece is foredoomed to failure. There should be as many rehearsals as possible, the last two to be dress rehearsals, when the play should be acted exactly as it is to be before the audience. In the case of amateurs, every effort should be made to have the entire company present on each occasion. All "business" and by-play should be carefully explained by each actor, otherwise confusion will be the result. Above all, the performer should not be satisfied with being merely what is called " letter-perfect." He should study the character he is to represent carefully, trying to become the character as closely as possible. " No committing of the piece to memory will be of service," says Goethe ; " if the actor has not, in the first place, penetrated into the sense and spirit of the author, the mere letter will avail nothing." He must work up in his own mind the feelings which are supposed to actuate him at each moment, and he must never trust to the spur of the moment. A well- known teacher of Elocution and Dramatic Art once told me that he always trusted to the inspiration of the moment, and many persons, for fear of becoming mechanical, practically follow out his advice, with the natural result. Mr. George Henry Lewes, a most ELOCUTION. 69 able dramatic critic, says : — " What is called inspira- tion is the mere haphazard of carelessness or incom- petence ; the actor is seeking an expression which he ought to have found when studying his part. What would be thought of a singer who sang his aria differently every night? In the management of his breath, in the distribution of light and shade, in his phrasing, the singer who knows how to sing never varies. The timbre of his voice, the energy of his spirits, may vary ; but his methods are invariable. Actors learn," or ought to learn, "their parts as singers learn their songs. Every detail is deliberate, or has been deliberated. The very separation of art from nature involves this calculation. The sudden flash of suggestion, which is called inspiration, may be valuable, it may be worthless ; the artistic element estimates the value, and adopts or rejects it ac- cordingly. Trusting to the inspiration of the moment is like trusting to a shipwreck for your first lesson in swimming." Hazlitt, perhaps the ablest of dramatic critics, says : " We think it a rule that an actor ought to vary his part as little as possible, unless he is convinced that his former mode of playing it is erroneous. He should make up his mind as to the best mode of representing the part, and come as near to this standard as he can in every successive exhibition. It is absurd to object to this mechanical uniformity as studied and artificial. All acting is studied and artificial. An actor is no more called •JO ELOCUTION. upon to vary his gestures or articulation at every new rehearsal of the character, than an author can be required to furnish various readings to every separate copy of his work. To a new audience it is quite unnecessary ; to those who have seen him before in the same part it is worse than useless. They may, at least, be presumed to have come to a second representation because they approved of the first, and will be sure to be disappointed in almost every alteration. The attempt is endless, and can only produce perplexity and indecision in the actor himself" Speaking of Monnet-Sully of the Comedie Frangaise, Mr. Brander Matthews says : " He can act merely as he feels, and his feelings change from day to day. He rarely plays the same parts twice alike, and this is a sure sign of imperfect art ; for when an actor has once found the proper emphasis, the proper tone, and the proper gesture for a phrase, he should always seek to give the phrase just that emphasis, just that tone, and accompany it by just that gesture. At one time he may be able to do it more efficiently than at another, but he should always try to do this." This is so self- evident that I would not notice it at all, were it not that some of our actors, and even some of our dramatic teachers, entertain an opposite view, with the result that the acting on the English stage is unequal and very often flabby. ■ There are two points to which I would wish to draw particular attention, as they are always a sign ELOCUTION. 71 of bad stage management, and are extremely apt to prejudice an audience, disposing it to be more critical : — (i) The curtain shall be rung up promptly at the time stated ; and (2) the " waits " between the acts should be as short as possible. A "wait" should never be more than ten minutes, six or eight is best ; and the orchestra should have strict orders to play during the entire interval. VOICE ORGANS.— I, Channels of the Nose ; 2, Hard Palate; 3, The Tongue, 4, Nostril ; 5, Larynx (Glottis is the slit between them) ; 6, Ventricle of Larynx ; 7, Vocal Cords ; 8, Trachea (Windpipe) ; g, Upper part of Epiglottis ; 10, Uvula, or soft end of Palate (lax or pendent); 11, Eustachian Tube, opening to the ear; 12, Pharynx. THE VOICE. 73 THE VOICE. " All public speakers, as well as singers,'' says Lenl.^x Browne, "should receive scientific training in the mechanism and right em- ployment of the organ of voice. It is precisely here, on the threshold of their art, that many elocutionists fail. They occupy themselves with articulation, pronunciation, intonation, modulation, emphasis and gesture " — ? gesticulation^" and having but little, if any, physio- logical knowledge, are therefore unable to form a true basis of voice- production. It is clear that a teacher of singing or of elocution who is thoroughly and practically acquainted with the anatomy and physi- ology of the parts over which he is to give his pupils control, is, other qualifications being equal, in a position to produce better results than one who is deficient in such skill." " The knowledge of the Vocal Organs is always very useful to the singer, and in many cases indispensable to the teacher. "— Tosi. For a speaker or a singer to have a complete scientific knowledge of the vocal organs would not only be unnecessary but useless. But a simple outline of their construction and connection with each other is necessary, in order that the pupil may understand the explanations which every teacher ought to give when demonstrating how the voice may be best produced and controlled. The principal Vocal Organs are — (i) The Dia- phragm and Midriff, (2) The Lungs, C3) The Bronchial Tubes, (4) The Trachea, (5) The Vocal Cords, (6) The Mouth. (i) The Diaphragm, an elastic dome-like muscle between the thorax and the abdomen. Its principal 74 THE VOICE. vocal function is that of expanding and contracting the lungs in respiration. In expiration, the dia- phragm ascends, presses on the lungs, and drives them towards the throat. Practise drawing in and expelling the breath — sometimes slowly, continuously, gently and equally; at other times, more rapidly and forcibly. Never do this on a full stomach — but say about an hour after each meal — or with a tight belt round the waist. Tight lacing is very bad, as it interferes with the free play of the lungs, and impairs the vocal powers. Take plenty of physical exercise so as to keep in good health. Practise holding the breath after a deep inhalation for several seconds before letting it go. This exercise strengthens the lungs and gives control over the breath. (2) The Lungs may be said generally to depend for their power on the quantity of breath they are capable of receiving. They are just above the dia- phragm, and consist of two conically-shaped bodies, lying in the cavity of the chest, which are composed of a vast multitude of little vessels, or hollow air cells, into which the breath pours when the chest is expanded, and from which it is expelled when the chest is contracted. Exercise them, when standing upright, by inhaling the largest possible draught of pure air — nothing will compensate for an imperfect supply to the lungs of pure atmospheric air. Let the breathing be deep and THE LUNGS. 75 tranquil, but such as to cause the chest to rise fully and fall freely, and at every effort fill the lowest cell of the lungs. The expansion of the lungs depends on the size and expansibility of the thorax, and therefore every effort should be made, by means of suitable exercises, to make the chest capable of expansion. The chief function of the lungs is the removal of the carbonic acid from the blood, and the introduction of oxygen. For those with weak lungs, or who have any impediment in their speaking, practise whispering, in which the words are articulated simply by the action of the mouth and fauces, no vocal tones being produced. The practice must, however, not be too frequent or too long-sustained, as it requires a greater number of inspirations and an increased force in expiration. Weak voices may be strengthened by inhaling deeply, then closing the glottis, and then directing the air forcibly against and through it. Afterwards vary the exercises by emitting sound. Begin on the C and go upwards. Sound skah and kah, and hold the note as long as possible. By practice, a note can be held for more than twenty seconds. In practising this exercise, take care that no breath comes out with the sound, because otherwise not only is the stock of breath exhausted, but the tone of the voice is spoiled. To test this, speak or sing with a lighted candle before the mouth. If there is breath, the candle will flicker ; if not, it will burn in the usual manner. y6 THE VOICE. Practise sighing also, which consists of a rather long inspiratory effort by the diaphragm and other muscles concerned in inspiration, the air almost noise- lessly passing in through the glottis, and being rather suddenly expelled again by the elastic recoil of the lungs and chest walls, and probably also of the abdominal walls. When the vocal cords are called into action, the sigh is converted into a groan. (3) The Bronchial Tubes are next above the lungs. Taken together with the larynx, they constitute what is called the Trachea, or windpipe, which resembles an inverted tree. The bronchial tubes are the inverted twigs and branches, the trachea is the trunk, and the larynx is the upturned root. They are a number of little air-pipes, whose lower extremities are inserted in the upper surface of the lungs. They perform two functions — (l) That of air-pipes ; (2) That of resonant cavities. Hence the larger and more capacious these organs, the greater the depth, fulness and volume of the vocal sounds. They are liable to be obstructed by secretions from colds and bronchial maladies, and should, therefore, be exercised gently and cautiously in breathing large draughts of pure air, otherwise the voice becomes impure from imperfect resonance. (4) The Trachea, or Windpipe, is a tube consisting of a series of elastic cartilaginous or gristly rings. It is supplied with muscular fibres, by which the tube is capable of contraction or expansion, both in its length and breadth. It divides into two smaller tubes — the THE VOCAL CORDS. "JJ right and left bronchus — which pass respectively into the two lungs. Its upper extremity is furnished with a number of cartilages, forming what is called the Larynx. By propelling air through the larynx, vocal sounds are produced. (5) The Larynx and Vocal Cords are the organs for generating the sound of the voice. The Larynx is a cartilaginous box at the upper part of the windpipe, the exterior projection of which is popularly known as Adam's Apple, from the strange idea, or legend, that a portion of the forbidden fruit stuck in his throat at this spot, and has in appearance been perpetuated in all his descendants. It is composed of a framework of cartilages articulated together, and connected by elastic ligaments. Behind the tongue, and in front of the upper opening of the larynx, is a curved, upright, fibro-cartilaginous plate, called the Epiglottis, which forms a kind of valve, or cover, to the glottis, when the larynx is drawn upwards as in the act of swallowing, thus preventing the entrance of food or drink into the air passage, and sending the matter into the gullet, or proper passage for food. " Persons sometimes, while in the act of swallowing, attempt to speak. The doing so raises the epiglottis, or lid ; a particle of food gets in under it, to remove which Nature instantly institutes a violent fit of coughing ; and then it is usual to remark that the food went the wrong way." The Larynx is crossed about the middle of its bell-like cavity by two elastic parallel bands of tissue 78 THE VOICE. — vocal ligaments, or cords — which are capable of being lengthened or shortened by the muscular action of the organ. They project opposite to each other from the sides of the inner wall of the larynx, and are made to vibrate in unison by the breath as it is expelled from the lungs ; and by these vibrations the breath is converted into sound. The force with which the breath is expelled from the lungs causes the cords to vibrate through a greater or less breadth, and, according to the number of vibrations in a given time, so the sound thereby produced is either higher or lower in pitch. When the cords are shortened, or relaxed, their vibrations are relatively few in number, and the notes are consequently deep ; when they are elongated and tense, their vibrations are relatively rapid, and the notes are consequently high. Aphonia, or voicelessness, in which the person is unable to speak, except in a whisper, is produced by the inflammation and clogging of the vocal cords, so that they cease to vibrate. The space between, or that bounded by, the two vocal cords is termed the Glottis, which is a narrow chink forming the mouth of the larynx. The opening and contraction of this portion of the vocal apparatus decides, in part, the gravity or the shrillness of the tone. While sounding the deepest notes, or inhaling a deep breath, the larynx is drawn down, and the glottis is open, forming an elliptical slip ; when uttering a high note, the glottis is nearly closed at the top. " The comparative width of the glottis — that is, THE GLOTTIS. 79 the distance from each other of the vocal cords — does not affect ^'s. pitch of the voice ; the pitch of the cords is the result of their tension alone ; and so long as this tei^ion is preserved, or remains unmodified, so long will the pitch remain the same, however wide or narrow the glottis may be. There is, however, a marked difference in the degree oi force required to make the same note ; the power needful increasing according to the extent of the separation of the cords from each other, and vice versd One cause, then, of the difference in the range of voice between one person and another consists — other things being equal — in the greater power possessed by one person over another in making more tense his or her vocal cords ; for the tighter these are strung, the higher is the resulting note. But as in different persons there are differences in the length and in the thickness of the vocal cords, just as there are differences in the length of people's limbs, so are there differences in the amount or degree of force required by different individuals to produce the same note, and even though the same absolute degree of contractile force be in operation in all the cases. In other words, the longer the cords, the greater the tension required to evolve any particular note ; and the thicker the cords, the greater the force required to produce any particular note. . . . Another factor in the difference of vocal power of different persons, consists in the dijference of resonance of their respective vocal cords, and of the cartilages and adjacent structures of the 80 THE VOICE. larynx. Where these structures are lax and puffy, and devoid of proper tone, we cannot expect to find, nor do we find, that purity, sweetness and strength of the vocal powers which are met with in those whose vocal organs, and all in connection with those organs, are finely strung and possessed of superior tonicity. For it is this healthful tonicity which confers upon the tissues, not only the property of responding to the calls made upon them, but of responding with due alacrity; and which also confers upon them their delicate elastic properties. " In women — and in boys, before the age of puberty — the length of the vocal cords, as compared with men, is as 2 to 3. But in boys at the age of puberty, the larynx begins to increase rapidly in size, like the rest of his organisation ; and the vocal cords, partaking of this increase, finally attain their maxi- mum length as the boy develops into full manhood. And this lengthening of the cords produces a difference in the character of the voice; this becoming changed into one of a deeper or lower pitch, corresponding to the addition made to the length of the cords, and to their increased thickness. A remarkable property possessed by the larynx is its power of preserving the same pitch, or sounding the same note, however forcibly or loudly that note may be sounded — the loudness of the note being limited only by the power possessed by the vocalist of expelling air through the larynx from his lungs. He may begin in pianissimo, and with a note so soft as THE LARYNX. 8 1 scarcely to be audible, and end in fortissimo, in a tone so loud that the very room appears to partake of the vibration of his cnest-walls ; and yet the note sounded shall be of the same pitch throughout. In a wind instrument of man's invention, this power of increasing the loudness of the note is confined within compara- tively narrow limits. In the latter, when the air passing through the pipe attains a certain velocity in sounding any particular note, any further attempts to increase the intensity of the note, by a still more vigorous blow or stream of air, proves at once abortive, by the note jumping an octave higher. In the larynx, however, provision is made whereby the note or tone originally beginning in pianissimo, may be rendered louder and louder, and still preserve its pitch, however forcibly the air may be passed through the larynx from the lungs — a result unattainable by any artificial contrivance. And though the exact mechanism, by which this admirable property or power of adjustment is accomplished by the larynx, is not fully known or made clear, we may safely infer that it can be achieved only by the simultaneous and proportionate relaxation of the vocal cords, by the action of the thyro-arytenoid muscle ; the delicacy of which adjustment is so fine that the mind cannot grasp it." It is a good thing to practise uttering the hard sounds, b, d, g, k, as this exercise enlarges the larynx, and thus increases the volume and quality of the voice. (6) The Mouth. Its vocal functions are those of G 82 THE VOICE. resonance and differentiations of the volume of sound. The entire resonant apparatus consists of the pharynx, the mouth, and the double set of passages of the nose. The pharynx, situated immediately above the larynx, forming the open space at the back of the mouth, although not directly concerned in the pro- duction of sound, has a great effect upon the character and quality of the voice. The larger this cavity, the better the resonance of the voice, and, generally, the deeper the tone. To give the voice the full effect of round, smooth and agreeable tone, the free use of the cavity of the mouth is indispensable ; the whole mouth must be thrown open by the unimpeded action and movement of the lower jaw. A free and liberal opening of the mouth is the only condition on which a free and effective utterance can be produced. The non-observance of this, resulting in the straining of the vocal cords, is injurious to all voices, and has ruined many. An able physician writes : — " The position of the mouth necessary for sounding oh or aw, which are called round or clear tones, is that most favourable to the production of vocal sound ; while the injurious method usually adopted by singing ah, not only induces an unpleasing quality of tone, but establishes a braced or tightened condition of the organ, highly detrimental to their proper and healthy action." Some teachers insist on the straining of the vocal ligaments for increasing the power of the voice, instead of allowing the larynx to fulfil its natural VOCAL REMEDIES. 83 function of ascending into the pharynx for producing high notes, and descending when producing low or grave notes. When the vocal cords are stretched too much, the notes are certain to become harsh and disagreeable. The orotund quality of voice is produced by the wide and free opening of the mouth, especially the pharynx, and requires full and deep inspiration and expiration of the breath, in order to assist in opening all the resonant chambers of the chest, throat and head. Purity of sound is also one of its constituent elements. The audible utterance of masculine force, courage, energy, admiration, grandeur and power, in fact, all deep, powerful and sublime emotions, depend for expression on this quality. Though the chest portion of the register is the proper one to use, never use the very lowest portion. Speak in your natural key. When the chest is felt to vibrate under the impact of the sound-waves, we are using the voice in the most efficient and agreeable manner. Never speak too loud, the effort being injurious to the speaker and disagreeable to the listener. If the respiration and the key-note are well managed, the voice will reach the farthest limits of the largest hall without an effort. Speak slowly, with well-balanced pauses, so as to allow the sound waves to subside, otherwise the result is a confusion and jumble of sounds. Be very .particular in sounding the vowels carefully and well, 84 VOCAL REMEDIES. Never strain the voice either by speaking too long, or in too high a key, or when fatigued, unwell, or suffering from a cold. At the first sign of hoarseness, cease speaking, or use the voice as little as possible, and in as low a tone as possible. Clergyman's sore throat, or follicular pharyngitis, consists principally of dryness of the mucous mem- brane of the pharynx and a peculiar huskiness of the voice, and is produced nearly always by a wrong use of the organs of speech. The breath is forced too much, and the voice is used in an unnatural and affected manner. Undue stress is laid on the larynx and the vocal cords, which ultimately yield to the tension. In an excellent work on Medicine, I met with the following : — " Clergymen and Lecturers often get into the habit of speaking in a voice which is not natural to them. They use an assumed tone of voice, in many cases probably unconsciously imitating some one whose delivery they admire. Undue stress is laid on the larynx and vocal cords, which ultimately yield to tension. The best way is to ask the opinion on the point, and take the advice, of a Teacher of Elocution," whose ears should be sufficiently acute and trained to recognise whether the voice of the speaker is being used naturally or not. With regard to Throat and Voice remedies, it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule. What is one man's food is another man's poison. VOCAL REMEDIES. 85 What may suit one person may not suit another, and may not even be equally suitable at all times. Pro- vided it is not injurious in itself, speakers or singers should be allowed to take whatever they find, from experience, to be good for them. Anything that keeps the mouth moist and acts as a lubricant to the throat is4 most generally useful. Eggs, raw or beaten up with sherry, are about as good as anything. Do not load the stomach before speaking, as this often interferes with the free use of the voice ; nor, on the contrary, must one speak on an empty stomach, the mere presence of food in the stomach imparting a great impulse to the vital functions. When there is a tendency to dyspepsia, one or two Pepsine Tabloids, after eating, will help to insure the correct operation of the stomach. Never sip eold water while speaking. Avoid acids and astringents, because, although they clear the voice at first, their tendency is, in time, to harden the more delicate fibres of the throat. Oranges, apples, stone fruit are all injurious to the voice unless cooked. Especially avoid nuts. Too much sugar and fat is apt to encourage flatulent dyspepsia, and consequent impairment of respiration and vocalisation ; therefore, avoid heavy puddings, fat rneat, melted butter-sauces, etc. Among the exciting causes of diseases of the throat and the nasal passages are the indulgence of cold d'T'in'ks immediately after eating food, and the im- 86 VOCAL REMEDIES. moderate use of iced drinks in summer, especially when the body is exhausted. In going out from a warm room to a chilly outside air, avoid speaking as much as possible, or if you must do so, take the precaution of holding a handker- chief over the mouth. In connection with this, I would also impress upon all speakers, vocalists, reciters, etc., the extreme necessity of paying attention to their teeth, not only for the sake of appearance, and because keeping them clean preserves them longer, but also because clean teeth help in producing clear tones. The teeth, more- over, act as a kind of respirator to the mouth, while the want of them detracts from that clearness of articulation which is so necessary. Cleaning the teeth thoroughly the first thing in the morning with a brush of soft badger's hair and lukewarm water, along with any of the following dentifrices, will in a short time produce a great improvement even in the most discoloured teeth. I myself have found nothing better than camphorated chalk, with a little orris-root or a little myrrh in it. I can also recommend the Odontobaph Tooth Powder and Tooth Paste, while rinsing the mouth out the last thing at night with a little of the Odontobaph Mouth Wash in a wineglass of water will prove additionally useful, as also in strengthening the gums. Porter, port wine, or molasses coat the mucous membrane of the throat. Claret is good, as it contains large quantities of tannic acid and some VOCAL REMEDIES. 8/ iron, which act as tonics to the system generally. A very good lubricating drink is made thus : — Take equal parts of tragacanth, pure starch and good sugar. When properly dissolved, a teaspoonful may be added to a glass of water, and taken in small quantities, so as not to overcharge the stomach. This forms a pleasant liquid of such consistency and adhesive power as covers and protects for a short time the membranous lining of the throat. Hot peppers, pickles, curries, cayenne lozenges, are injurious to the voice. Lemon juice, with soda water, is both wholesome and palatable. On the first appearance of hoarseness, bathe the feet in hot water, drink something hot, and then get into bed between blankets. In fact, I would recommend all, especially those who have a tendency to rheuma- tism, to sleep always without sheets. I have done so for years, and have found the benefit of it. One advantage of it is that you get rid of the possibility of " damp sheets," which are the cause of so many colds. In his interesting work on Musical Education, Mr. Alberto Bach says : — " In the first hours after an appearance of cold in the head, let a little bottle with a wide neck, and containing a few grains of iodine or of hartshorn, be put to the nose every four or five minutes. Of great service, also, is the inhalation, through the nostrils, of the steam of hot water. Physicians have ordered Turkish baths at the com- mencement of a cold, with good results for the patient. 88 VOCAL REMEDIES. If the larynx is affected with cold, one must not sing at all ; the best remedy is rest and the inhalation of warm vapours. Inclination to coughing must be resisted, and in the same way one must abstain from clearing the throat on slight irritation. Vocalists who have contracted this habit of clearing their throats, should request as a favour to have their attention drawn to it when they are observed to indulge in it ; for they often unconsciously mar their performances by short coughs. A tendency to coughing must, therefore, be suppressed. Stewed plums and warm milk, with a little sugar in it, will allay the irrita- tion Caustic and tannin are to be used only under advice for the prevention of threatening diseases. They make the membranes rigid, deprive them of their elasticity, and interfere with the voice. When swallowing becomes painful, or is impeded, a towel dipped in cold water, and well wrung out, may be applied round the throat both day and night. . . . . In some serious cases the advice of an able physician should be sought without delay." Warm cravats and all muffling about the throat are relaxing. If afraid of cold, protect the part just behind and beneath the ears. If the throat is very dry after singing or reciting, a gargle of arnicated water will greatly refresh the throat ; while just rinsing out the mouth with this water will remove the sense of thirst ; or glycerine jujubes medicated with arnica are good. A cold taken in time and treated with aconite wiil VOCAL REMEDIES. 89 soon disappear. Mix Tincture of Aconite, half- drachm, in 4 oz. of water. A teaspoonful to be taken every ten minutes for the first hour, and afterwards hourly for eight or ten hours. The following remedies I can recommend from personal experience. Hazeline exerts a wonderfully tonic action on mucous membranes, and, as Dr. Ringer, Prof Clin- ical Medicine, University College Hospital, says, "is useful in catarrh of the mucous membrane, and snuffed up through the nose is beneficial in cold in the head, and in hay fever." It is quite innocuous, and occasions no unpleasant results, so that it can be used with great freedom in inflamed and relaxed states of the throat, for it is both astringent and antiseptic. In catarrhal or inflammatory conditions of the throat, it may be used as a gargle ; but where the trouble is with the larynx or bronchi, it should be employed in a spray-producer. In hemorrhage from any part of the respiratory tract, Hazeline should be taken in a little water, in 30-drop doses, frequently repeated. Chloride of Ammonium takes the foremost place with many actors, public speakers, and singers for aphonia, irritation and weakness of the vocal cords. Its usefulness in catarrhal conditions of the throat and lungs is attested by laryngologists generally. It " increases the secretion from the mucous membrane," and prevents the formation of a thick tenacious mucus. Therapeutists hold that there is no drug go VOCAL REMEDIES. which will so effectually remove catarrhal deposits from the meshes of mucous membranes. For throat troubles a Chloride of Ammonium Tabloid should be dissolved slowly on the middle of the tongue, not near the tip, which is too sensitive. These Tabloids are strongly recommended for bronchitis. Where there is irritation, huskiness, hacking, or an uncontrollable tendency to cough, I can recommend the Tabloids of Chlorate of Potash and Borax. Chlorate of Potash is an old-time remedy, and a good one for affections of the mouth and pharynx, while Borax is much esteemed for clergyman's sore throat, aphonia from over-use of the voice, and even such diseases as diphtheria. In cases of extreme irritation, or of pain, recourse should be had to the Voice Tabloids of Cocaine,. Chlorate of Potash and Borax. They will even relieve the painful swallowing sometimes encountered in consumption of the larynx, and may, indeed, be employed for pain in the throat from any cause. Cocaine is generally valued by throat specialists, and clearer, fuller, richer tones seem to follow upon the use of these Voice Tabloids. A remedy^ which has attained great popularity in chronic bronchial affections is Pure Terebene (B. W. & Co.). It was with this medicine that Dr. Murrell, F.R.C.P., Assist. Phys. and Lect. on Materia Medica, Westminster Hospital, succeeded in curing consecutively 120 cases of winter cough. It is a powerful expectorant, and may be inhaled from VOCAL REMEDIES. 91 a spray atomizer, or taken internally in doses of 5 or lo drops on a lump of sugar. Care should be taken to obtain the pure product, as impure terebene causes severe irritatiori. Eucalyptine is a remedy which would, doubtless, be used more than it is, were it not so difficult to obtain it pure. By smelling constantly some cloth or cotton on which it has been dropped, the drug will prove most serviceable in cold in the head and nasal catarrh. Even where there is a profuse, offensive, semi-purulent discharge, it removes foetor and checks the secretion. The drug may be very advantageously used for further medicating the fumes of the Chloride of Ammonium Inhaler, which is done by pouring a few drops of it into the " water bottle." Again, the therapeutic value of the exhalations of pine trees has long been known. Scientists have discovered that the most efficacious medicinal products are obtained from the pinus Pumilio, which grows amid the Alpine snows. Pinol is a volatile oil distilled from it, and is distinguished from common pine oils by its excellent fragrance and non-irritating properties. The drug is largely used on the Continent in affections of the respiratory tract, including nasal catarrh, pharyngitis, quinsy, clergy- man's sore throat, aphonia, asthma, pertussis, chronic bronchitis, bronchorroea and phthisis. It is also em- ployed externally for pleuritic and intercostal pains. It is frequently prescribed in inhalations (in the Vereker Ammonium Inhaler or a spray or steam atomizer), as a gargle, for fumigations, as an embro- 93 VOCAL REMEDIES. cation or lotion, and is also given internally in 3-minim doses on a lump of sugar. The fumes of Chloride of Ammonium act as a most effectual tonic to the mucous membrane in throat- cough, pharyngeal irritation, and relaxation and weakness of the vocal apparatus. " The vapour of the Chloride of Ammonium," says one writer, "re- moves unhealthy and offensive secretions, and restores the diseased or weakened vocal and respiratory mucous membrane to a healthy state, so that, in the case of catarrh, where thickening, induration, and irritation exist, a most decided improvement is brought about in a short time." Authorities generally recommend the Vereker Chloride of Ammonium Inhaler as the best. It generates neutral fumes, and is always ready for use. The remotest parts of the respiratory mucous tract may be reached by these fumes, which are absolutely harmless if neutral. Pastilles de Bonnet and Pastilles d' Agents de Change, as containing liquorice, gums, etc., are also excellent lubricants for the throat. Coca, a plant of South America, has a wonderful effect in removing all sense of fatigue, while its use is followed by no ill effects, as is the case with mere stimulants. In the treatment of alcohol-craving, it is stated to be of great benefit. It is introduced into various preparations. Ambrechfs Coca Wine has been found very beneficial for fatigue, nervous exhaustion, or mental worry ; while, with the addition of a 5 -grain Tabloid of Bromide of Ammoniurn, it counterapts the VOCAL REMEDIES. 93 tendency to sleeplessness from which so many suffer. It is particularly useful to vocalists, clergymen, actors, and speakers generally, as it has a beneficial effect on the vocal cords. It should be taken about half-an- hour before using the voice. GESTURE. GESTURE. I NOW come to an element in good speaking which is the most difficult of all, because it cannot be properly explained, except viva voce — I mean Gesture, not Gesticulation. Gesture is a science ; Gesticulation is merely unmeaning guesswork. Gestures have a meaning, gesticulation has none. Few, however, know the diiTerence. Gesture is a subject which requires to be studied; it cannot be picked up. Vandenhoff truly says : — " It is next to impossible to teach gestures by written instructions. Practical lessons, under a good and experienced teacher, will do more towards giving the pupil ease, grace and force of action, than all the books and plates in the world." Gesture has Deen aptly called the Language of Nature, to distinguish it from the arbitrary and more limited language of speech. Cicero, in one of his Orations, has recommended particular attention to delivery. " Action is, as it were, a kind of eloquence of the body, as it consists both of the voice and of the gesture. It is not without reason that Demosthenes assigned to action the first, the second, and the third place. For, if eloquence cannot subsist without action, and if without eloquence action has such influence, certainly its importance is very great to a public speaker." " The gesture of the public speaker," says Austin, "must vary considerably with the different GESTURE. 95 circumstances of his situation, and with the nature of the ideas he wishes to convey." Cicero says : — " Every passion of the heart has its own appropriate look, tone and gesture ; and a man's own counten- ance, his whole body and all the voices of his mouth re-echo like the strings of a harp to the touch of every emotion of his soul." " It would be needless to mention or portray all the infinite varieties and shades of expression that may be conveyed by the motions and attitudes of the body. .... Such natural gestures as the following need only to be mentioned to strike the intelligence at once : — To clutch the hair indicates desperation ; to touch the forehead, reflection ; to touch the nose, intelligence or cunning ; to touch the chin, delibera- tion ; to strike the breast, daring ; to slap the thigh, impatience; to shake the finger or fist, menace, anger, etc. But the great mirror of expression is the face. There, in ever-changing shades, thought, feeling, passion, are portrayed with a power beyond the reach of language ; wrath storms in the corrugated brow, and flashes lightning f»om the eye ; love and tenderness thrill in the melting glance ; suppressed passion labours in the expanded nostrils ; scorn and disdain ride on the curled lip. But what except the pencil of the painter can do justice in describing these things?" As M. Champeau wrote in the Dramatic Reciter and Speaker of February, 1 886 : — " The eyes, says Quintilian, are the chief feature in the face. It is by 96 GESTURE. them that the soul is manifested, for when we are glad they are lively and bright, and when sad they are heavy. Buffon also says that it is in the eyes that the internal emotions are expressed. The eye is more closely connected with the soul than any other organ : it seems to participate in all its movements, and expresses the most lively passions and the most agitated emotions, as well as the most gentle and delicate sentiments. In the eye we look for meaning, for human sentiment, for reproof. In fact, if there is anything certain, it is that the mind is more promptly and forcibly expressed by the eyes than by anything else. We know this so well that, when questioning anyone, we instinctively look to the eyes for the answer before it has been uttered by the mouth. . . . Words cannot be compared with the eloquence of the eyes. As Cicero says, 'The power of the eyes, the manner of giving them expression, deserve the greatest possible attention.' " The mouth is, next to the eyes, the most important part of the countenance, as having the most expression. " How few mouths, which have been beautiful in youth (the season of happiness and smiles), are preserved beyond that period. Every bad habit defaces the soft beauty of the mouth, and leaves indelible on it the traces of their injury. . . . That moral habits are capable of altering the fine expressions of the countenance can hardly be doubted. The character of the entire countenance is under the dominion of those habits. And beauty is often ^and perhaps better) attributed GESTURE. 97 to the mind and dispositions beaming through the countenance, than to symmetry of features and fine colouring. The most beautiful face soon ceases to please, if Unworthy passions habitually deform its expression." All gestures must be in curves, never in straight lines. Do not, therefore, move the arm and hand to the intended position by the shortest line, but by a curved one ; let the motion be rather slow until the final position is almost reached, then let the hand move more quickly to its place with more or less of emphasis, according to the occasion, on the emphatic word. As a rule the gesture is performed with the right arm, the left arm merely supporting it. Of course, there are exceptions, such as when the left hand is spoken of in contradistinction to the right, " For half of their fleet to the right and half to the left were seen" — it not being permissible to point across the body ; when there is local allusion to some object on the left of the speaker ; when two things are contrasted, if the case requires that the one should be marked by the action of the right hand, it is often as well to mark the antithetic word with the left hand. When one hand is clenched the other must not hang languid by the side, but must indicate, in a secondary degree, the same feeling. Quintilian seems to regard the hands as nearly equal in power of expression to the countenance itself "Without the hands," he says, "delivery would be maimed and feeble ; for, in copiousness H 98 GESTURE. of expression, they almost equal words. The action of the other parts of the body assist the speaker, but the hands (I could almost say) speak themselves. For with them do we not demand, promise, call, dismiss, threaten, supplicate, detest, fear, interrogate, deny ? With them do we not express joy, sorrow, doubt, confession, penitence, moderation, abundance, number, time ? " The celebrated physician, Cous, called the practice of the gestures of the hand the most excellent lesson in eloquence. "Among the wise men of Egypt, the inventors of the sacred hieroglyphics, their designation of language was by the symbol of a hand placed under a tongue. Every- thing, it must be confessed, depends on the hand ; it gives strength and colouring to eloquence, and adds force and nerves to the riches of thought." How absurd, then, was the habit, almost universally practised, of wearing gloves, until inveighed against repeatedly by me in the Dramatic Reciter and Speaker. The beauty and force of all gesture consists in the timely, judicious and natural employment of it, when it can serve to illustrate the meaning, or give emphasis to the force of any passage. Graceful, appropriate and definite gestures render vocal delivery not only more pleasing and effective, but carry greater con- viction to the mind. Variety, however, is indispens- able. The repetition of the same gesture, however graceful it may be in itself, shows a poverty of resource which is decidedly against the speaker. The usual fault of speakers is either too much or GESTURE. 99 too little gesture. Many speakers indulge in no gesture at all, from a natural feeling of awkwardness, or from fear of being thought what they call theatrical. Others, again, to avoid the appearance of inanimate- ness, indulge in incessant movings of the arms, with a bland indifference as to whether their action is awkward, irrelevant, or unmeaning. Correct and graceful gesture may be defined to be a just and elegant adaptation of every part of the body to the nature and import of the subject. " Yet, though all confess the influence, power and necessity of action," says the Rev. James Abercrombie, D.D., an eminent American writer on the arts of reading and public speaking, "there are but few public speakers who venture to use it ; and of those few, a very large majority, through want of native taste and judgment, or rather through want of early and correct instruction, disgust, instead of pleasing, by their awkwardness and absurdity. The study of action in speaking consists chiefly in guarding against awkward and disagreeable motions, and in learning to perform such as are natural to the speaker in the most becoming manner, or such as are most graceful and impressive. You may, there- fore, with unquestionable advantage, have recourse to such masters as have carefully studied and are qualified to teach them." G. H. Lewes writes : — " All but very great actors are redundant in gesticulation ; not simply overdoing the significant, but unable to repress insignificant movements. . . If actors would study fine models, lOO GESTURE. they would learn that gestures to be effective must be significant, and to be significant they must be rare. To stand still on the stage, and not appear ' a guy, ' is one of the elementary difficulties of the art, and one which is rarely mastered." This applies also to every kind of speaker. To emphasize all parts alike is equivalent to no emphasis at all ; and by employing gestures on unimportant passages, the speaker lessens his power of rendering other parts effective. Gestures should be reserved for such passages as require to be more prominent, and for the most earnest feelings and the boldest thoughts. The great aim should be to realise and bring, as far as possible, before the mind's eye the scene of the incident which he is describing. As Quintilian says, " A speaker ought to suit his gesture to the general sentiment which he expresses, and not to the particular signification of the word which he pronounces." The words and gestures should accompany each other. As Shakespeare says, " Action and utterance go together." The motion which calls forth the word, prompts, at the same moment, the gesture ; but if the speaker be warmed or excited, some difference of time, however small, will take place between the gesture and the words, the order in such casss being the eyes, the countenance, the gestures, tne words. The eyes must always be directed as the gesture points, except when we have to express aversion or refusal, when we should, at the same time, show aver- GESTURE. lOI sion in our countenance, and reject by our gesture. Impulsive jerks, and unmeaning or indefinite move- ments of the head, hands and arms, should be carefully- avoided. The speaker should learn to stand still. Repose is a chief element of effect. Graceful inaction is of immense importance to an actor or a speaker. The unmeaning wavings of the arms so commonly indulged in, so far from adding to the force or the beauty of a passage, greatly detract from it. As Addison says, " We (the English) ought either to lay aside all kinds of gestures, or at least make use of such only as are graceful and expressive.'' Propriety of gesture should be founded on some natural connection between the sentiment and the action. Remember the words which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Hamlet : — " Let your discretion be your tutor : suit the action to the word, the word to the action ; with this special observance, that you over- step not the modesty of nature." Do not follow the example of a reciter who, when speaking of a boat out at sea, pointed to the ceiling ; or of a London clergyman who, when uttering the words "we shall approach the table of the Lord," stood with his back to the altar, and held his hand out behind him, palm outwards. The movements of the head should also be suited to the character of the delivery. It should slightly imitate the hands in every motion ; but should not be shaken or nodded frequently, a failing so con- spicuous in many ambitious public speakers. The I02 GESTURE. head, by its movements, is very expressive ; it gives assent by nodding ; drawn back, it refuses assent ; is shaken in doubt, and still more in disapprobation ; is turned away in dislike, aversion or horror ; leans forward in attention ; is held up in courage or pride ; hangs down in shame ; and falls on either hand or on both hands in grief A gesture of the head alone, unaccompanied by any other gesture, is bad, except in comic or humorous pieces. The shoulders should move slightly in unison with the movements of the trunk. They should not be shrugged to express indifference or contempt, except where imitation or mimicry is allowable. The arms should always begin their movements from the shoulders, not from the elbow, which must neither be pinned closely to the side nor projected awkwardly from it. An easy and free use of the arms, and especially a pliancy of the wrist, should be acquired. Goldsmith, speaking of a celebrated actress of his time, says that she did not flourish her hands while the upper part of her arms was motionless, nor had she the "ridiculous appearance as if her elbows were pinned to her hips." To do so is not only ridiculous but positively ungraceful, and yet any one attending any Recital or Dramatic performance will too often see this sort of thing. The unfolding of the arms is the first necessity in acquiring graceful gesture, and when this is acquired all other gestures are comparatively easy, though, of course, their appropriateness depends on the intelli- GESTURE. 103 gence of the speaker, and on the care and thought he has bestowed on the piece he is reciting, or the address he is delivering. The hands, always ungloved, should be open, muscles slightly relaxed ; the thumb not too much raised, the two middle fingers joined and slightly separated from the index and little finger. The palm of the extended hand held downwards is expressive of soothing, calming, or of rest after labour. " He lay like a warrior, taking his rest." The palm of the extended hand held outwards towards an object, is expressive of dislike or rejection ; when strong excitement or deep feeling is to be expressed, the head is also to be averted. " No more ! I'll hear no more ! Begone and lekve me." The joining of the hands at the tips, with the eye uplifted, is expressive of deep thought and contempla- tion. The hands are clenched in passion or resolve. The wringing of the hands expresses grief or remorse, and is generally accompanied by a restlessness of the entire body. The' forefinger, when directed straight forward, is very effective when some person or thing is to be pointed out ; also in exhibiting some precise point in an argument ; otherwise it should be seldom used. The forefinger of the right hand laid on that of the left, is expressive of nice discrimination, or minute distinction. "Mark me! — here is the point." The hand laid on the region of the heart expresses sensa- I04 GESTURE. tion, emotion, love ; on the breast, courage, appeal to conscience or courage. If merely the points of the fingers touch the breast, the motion is expressive of self. "And keep his only son, mysilf, at home." The hand laid on the lips commands silence, or denotes musing, thought. The hand, or forefinger, touching the forehead, or traversing the regions of the temples, with eyes uplifted, accompanied by a due solemnity of utterance, indicates doubt, apprehension, or anxiety. The raising of both hands, with the arms extended or curved, should seldom be used except where the idea demands it; and when used, both hands should be raised and lowered at the same moment. PIECES ANNOTATED. 10$ PIECES ANNOTATED. HAMLET'S ADVICE TO THE PLAYERS. Sptak the speSch, I pray y6u, as I pronounced it to you — trippingly on the tongue ; but, if you mouth it, as many of our players d6, I had as lief the town-cr/Vr spake my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand — thus, but use all gdntly ; for, in the very torrent, tempest and (as I may say) whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance, that may give it smoothness. Oh, it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious pertwig-Tpated fellow tear a passion to tatters— to very rdgs — to split the ears of the groundlings ; wh6, for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb show and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing Termagant ; it out-hdrods Hferod. Pray you \ avoid it = Be not too tdme neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action — to the word — the word — to the action : with this special observance — that you overstep not the modesty of nature; for anything, so ^werdone, 1% from ihz purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is — to h61d, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature : — to show virtue her own fedture ; scorn her own image ; and the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure. Now this, overdone or come tardy off, though it make the unsUilful — laugh, cannot but make 'Cat. judicious — grieve ; the censure of which one must, in your all6wance, o'erweigh a whole theatre of othzrs. Oh ! there be players that I have seen play and Io6 PIECES ANNOTATED. heard others praise, and that highly (not to speak it profanely) that, neither having the accent of Christian, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, or man, have so strutted and bellowed, that I have thought some of Nature's journeymen had made me'n, and not made them wkll—ihey imitated humanity so abominably. [The following apt commentary on " Hamlet's Advice to the Players" is from the pen of Mr. Percy Fitzgerald : — " The Prince's instructions in the art of acting are more in the direction of how not to do it ; but from this can be deduced the way how to do it. They concern various matters ; but the only two which concern us are Elocution and Gesture. Speak the speech, tripplingly on the tongue. The meaning of this is shown by the caution against the abuse that follows. The delivery is to be animated and rather declamatory, but not to run into boisterous 'mouthing.' On the other hand, an equally great mis- take is to suppose that the colloquial style of drawing-rooms and the streets are to be transported to the stage. All the conditions of the stage are founded on exaggeration and a certain over-emphasis. The conventional 'good morning' and 'a fine day' tones are without effect. Even the strong glare cast upon the performers makes every movement and every glance of importance. And thus it is — the time being so short, and the attention being bestowed but for a very short time — trivial tones and trivial speeches sound liors de propos, and are out of keeping. ' Trippingly,' however— an admirable word — is what can barely be applied to the style of delivery of existing actors, which in many instances is slovenly and indistinct to a degree. ' Mouth it' unhappily needs no description, and is familiar enough in the provinces. Still, if we come to preference, it is almost more to be endured than the other vice ; for it is an excess of a good thing. It is evident, indeed, from the whole of the Prince's instructions, that this sort of rant was the abuse of his time, as indeed it would seem to be of the stage generally in all times and places. Only on our own PIECES ANNOTATED. 107 boards, singularly to say, we have shrunk into a sort of a lethargic nonchalance. Some of this must be set down to the taste for familiar comedy introduced by Mr. Robertson ; but the real cause lies deeper — to the want of instruction and lack of experience in our performers. Many of the younger London actors and actresses have had no training at all, and some could be named who, with no gifts but their good looks, good address (and dress too), and good will, have obtained leading positions. Use all gently. A golden rule indeed. Reserved force is the secret of power. The Prince lays this down in reference to gesture, Do not saw the air too much, etc. It is extraordinary how, on the English stage, tradition seems to admit but two modes of expression — vehemence of voice, and vehemence of gesture ; the extraordinary effects which can be produced by the face being overlooked. Of course Mr. Vaux-Clamant may retort : ' What, no expression in the elevation of my bushy eyebrows — in this haughty scowl — this scornful curling of the lips ! Go to !' These are but elementary. Our pro- tagonist has but little notion of what is alluded to. How few understand %\ych. finesse as this : the sudden shiftings or contention of emotion ; the distrust or uneasiness conveyed without frowning, or arching the brows, or other gymnastics — allowing the sentiment to be read in the face before the utterance. Again, the expression by carriage, air, manner. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. To iind the proper action for the word, nay, to forbear action wholly where action might be looked for ; and how refreshing, how welcome, how infinitely more significant than a page of speaking is a truly significant action ! But this, again, is only formed by the nicest observation of human characters, and perhaps in a moment of inspiration."] PITT'S REPLY TO SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the hon- ourable gentleman has, with such spirit and dhency, charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to pdlliate nor diny ; but content myself with hoping that I may be one of those whose I08 PIECES ANNOTATED. follies cease with their ySuth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience. Whether ybuth can be imputed to man as a reprbach, I will not assume the province of det&mining; butsurely dgers\a.yhe.came justly contemptible, if the opportunities which it brings have passed away with- out improvement, and vice appears to prevail, when the pdssions have subsided. The wrdtch, who, after having seen the consequences of a thousand irrors, continues still to blunder, and whose age has only added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object either of abhorrence or contempt, and deserves-not that his grey hairs should secure him from insult. Much worse is M to be abhdrred, who, as he has advanced — in age, has receded — from virtue, and become more wicked with less temptation ; who prostitutes himself for mbney which he cannot enjoy, and spends the remains of his life in the riiin of his coimtry. But youth is not my only crime ; I am accused of acting a theatrical part. A theatri- cal part may either imply some peculiarity of gesture, or a dissimulation of my real sentiments, or the adoption of the opinions and language of another man. In the first sense, the charge is too trifling to be confuted, and deserves only to be mentioned that it may be despised. I am at liberty, like every other man, to use my own language ; and though, perhaps, I may have sbme ambition to please this gentleman, I shall not lay myself under any restrdint, nor very solici- tously copy his diction or his mien, however natural by dge, or modelled by experience. But — if any man shdll, by charging me with theatrical behaviour, imply that I utter any sentiments but my own, I shall treat him as a calumnia- tor, and a villain ; nor shall any protection shelter him from the treatment he deserves. I shall, on such an occdsion, trample on all those forms with which wealth and dignity PIECES ANNOTATED. IO9 intrench themselves, nor shall anything but dge restrain my resentment ; dge which always brings one privilege, that of being supercilious without punishment. THE SLAVE'S DREAM. By Longfellow. ^Beside the ungathered rice he l&.y | His sickle in his hand ; || His breast was bare | his matted hair Was buried | in the sand. || Again 1 ^in the mist and shadow of sl^ep | He saw [ his Ndtive-'La.nd. Wide I ^through the landscape of his drdams I The lordly Niger flowed ; || Beneath the palm-trees on the plains Once more | % King | he strode ; || And heard the tinkling caravans ^Descend the mountain road. He saw | once more | his dark-eyed queen | Among her children | stand ; || They clasped his n^ck | they kissed his chdeks | They held him by the hand ! — A tear burst from the sleeper's lids | And fell | into the sand. And then | at furious speed | he rode® Along the Niger's bank ; His bridle-reins were golden chdins. And I with a martial clank ] At each Idap he could feel his scabbard of steel Smiting his war-steed's flknk.' no PIECES ANNOTATED. ^Before him | like a blood-red flag | The bright flamingoes flew ; From morn till night he followed their flight, O'er plains where the tamarinds grew, Till he 'saw the roofs of Caffre huts, | And i^the ocean | rise to view. At night I he heard the lion roar, And the- hyaena scrSam, — And the river-horse as he crushed the reeds Beside some hidden stream ; || And i^it passed | like a glorious roll of drums, | Through the triumph | of his dream. The forests, with their myriad tongues, Shbuted of liberty ; || And the Blast of the Desert cried aldud | With a voice so wild and fr6e | That he ^%tarted in his sleep | and smfled At their tempestuous glfee. He did not feel the driver's whip, ■ Nor the burning heat of day ; | For diath \ had ^HMtnined the Land of Sleep | And his lifeless body "lay A worn-out fetter | that the soul Had broken | and thrown away ! 1st stanza to be given in a somewhat subdued tone ; last two lines slow. 2nd. The voice to be full and round, last two lines in a bright tone. 3rd. To be given eagerly, last two lines in a pathetic tone. 4th. Rapid and animated. 5th. Slow. 6th. Last two lines in a full tone. 7th. Voice to swell till the last two lines, which should be given softly. 8th. Pause before- beginning it, and then to be given very slowly. I. Open right hand to be pointed towards the ground. 2. Stretch right arm forward and upwards slowly, turn hand downwards at "his," PIECES ANNOTATED. Ill and let it drop slowly to side. 3. Right arm extended, palm down- wards, and swept slowly to left, index finger advanced. 4. Arms folded, head thrown back. 5. Raise left hand, index finger advanced, sweep round, and let it fall gradually. 6. Advance right foot slightly, and boldly sweep right hand out horizontally to right. 7. Smite left hand three times backwards. 8. Right arm, palm upwards, to be stretched out in front and gradually moved to right, then drop to side. 9. Here point wilh index finger to the front. 10. Turn hand, palm upwards, sweep round, then drop. 11. Raise right hand, palm out- wards, to front of breast, move slowly up towards the right, then drop. 12. Start, bring right hand quickly up to breast, look upwards and smile. 13. Look upwards, stretch right arm out slightly. 14. Turn hand round, look and point downwards towards the right. EXTRACT FROM "MAGDALEN." By M. E. Henry. (Expressive Sonow and night were watching | cold and description.) drdar | Beside the Magdalen, | and | in her woe | She might have been a sister-s^mX. clothed With deeper shadows. || Up and down she trod | In wild unrfest | the gorgeous room ; | and still | One cry, one prayer rang out above the storm Within her soul, | the mighty war that waged For mastery between despair and hope : — ■ (Deep feel- "Could I but lay my burden at IXv&Jket I ing.) Could I but kneelhtioxe. Him, hear His voice ! | But no ; | He is a prophet, and they say He is the Promised-On&. \ I may-not go, For Hi would scorn me, as the bthers do. | (Qicicktransi-^xA. hark! whose step without?" — while sharply tion to reson- rang ant tone.) The clang of arms, an iron heel upon The marble halls, — that told the warrior's tread. | " Phelon," she whispered and | in terror | sank, 112 PIECES ANNOTATED. The while the parted curtains gave to view ( Sonorous. ) h. man | majestic as a monarch thr6ned, And grandly handsome as a g6d, | who came Beside her cr6uching from his sight. | Upon His helmet's burnished height, an eagle gold Bespake his rank as Csesar's general. | " Why art thou here ? " she murmured. (Surprised tone.) " Why am I here ? (Expostula-Why, girl, dost thou not know I've risked my Hon.) life To see thee, for I could not go afar Without z. farewell word." TROUBADOUR'S CALL TO WAR. Addressed to Richard Cceur de Lion, by Bertram DE Born. (Bright It joys me well the sweet spring tide, when tone.) leaves and flowers appear ; — It joys me well, by greenwood side, the blithe bird's song to hear ; — (Quicker But more, perdi * ! I joy to see the tented field time.) afar. And steed and knight arrayed for fight in panoply of war ! It joys me well when outscouts_^i?e/ before their foemen riln ; For then full short, the main hosts meet, the tug of war comes on ! — * Pronounced /^^--rfisa (French /a>-a?«>«). PIECES ANNOTATED. I15 I love, among the wounded, to hear his dying moan, And catch, while chanting at his side, the music of his groan. Ye've trailed me through the forest 1 ye've tracked me o'er the stream I And struggling through the everglade your brist- ling bayonets gleam. — (Proud But I stand as should a warrior, with his rifle defiance.) and his spear ; The scalp of vengeance still is red and warns you — " Come not here I " (Sarcasm.) Think ye to find my homestead? — I gave it to the fire/ My tawny household do ye seek ? — •/ am a child- less sire ! But, should you crave life's nourishment, enough I have and good ; (Intensity.) I live on hate — 'tis all my bread; yet light is not ray food. I loathe you with my bosom I I scorn you with mine eye I And I'll taunt you with my latest breath, and fight you till I die 1 I ne^er will ask for quarter, and I ne^er will be your slave ; But I'll swim the sea of slaughter till I sink beneath the wave. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. (Narrative.) Haifa league, half z. league, Half a league onward \ 114 PIECES ANNOTATED. (Earnest.) Ye barons that have aught to pledge, in God's name pledge it now I And mortgage town and towfer and land, for sw6rd and axe and bow ! — Off, off! friend Sapiol, bear with haste to Oc and No my song ; And bid him speed the good old trade — wfe've \aA peace far too long. THE SEMINOLE'S DEFIANCE. By Lieut.-Col. George W. Patten, U.S.A. (Defiant.) Blaze, with your serried columns ! I will not bend the knde ; The shackle n^er again shall bfend the arm which nbw is free I I've mailed it with the thiinder, when the tempest muttered low ; And where it falls, ye well may dread the light- ning of its blow. (Scorn.) I've scared you in the city ; I've scalped you on the plain ; — Go, count your chosen where they ffell beneath my leaden rain ! I scorn your proffered trkaty — the paleface I (Intensity. ) Hevenge is stamped upon my spear, and " blbod" my battle-cry ! = Some strike for hope of booty ; some to defend their all ; — (Exulting.) /battle for the joy I have to see the white man fall. PIECES ANNOTATED. I15 I love, among the wounded, to hear his dying moan, And catch, while chanting at his side, the music of his groan. Ye've trailed me through the forest I ye've tracked me o'er the stream 1 And struggHng through the everglade your brist- ling bayonets gleam. — (Proud But I stand as should a warrior, with his rifle defiance.) and his spear ; The scalp of vengeance still is red and warns you — " Come not hire I " (Sarcasm.) Think ye to find my homestead 1 — I gave it to ^&fire! My tawny household do ye seek ? — / am a child- less sire ! But, should you crave life's nourishment, enough I have and good ; (Intensity.) I live on hate — 'tis all my bread ; yet light is not ray food. I loathe you with my bosom t I scorn you with mine eye ! And I'll taunt you with my latest breath, and fight you till I die ! I ne^er will ask for quarter, and I ne'er will be your slave ; But I'll swim the sea of slaughter till I sink beneath the wave. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. (Narrative.) Haifa league, half a, league, Half a league onward \ ii6 PIECES ANNOTATED. (Rather low All in the valley of death and slow.) R6de the Six Hundred. || (Capt. No- " Forward the Light Brigade ! laiis words.) Charge for the guns," he said. | All in the valley of death Rode the Six Hundred. || (Cardigan's Or- "FORWARD THE LIGHT BRIGADE!"! ders. — Quick b' ,,, , ,-,■,„ resonant tone. ) Was there a man dismayed^ Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered ; || Theirs not to make reply, | Theirs not to redson why, \ Theirs but to db or die. \ Into the valley of death Rode the Six Hundred. || (Each succeeding line of these three to be in a higher tone than the pre- ceding one. ) (Descriptive : Cannon to right of them, | resonant tone.) Cannon to left of them, | Cannon in frbnt of them, V611eyed and thundered ; Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well ; (Quicker tone.) Into Xhejaws of death. Into the mouth of hell, Rode the Six Hundred. I| (Animated de- Flashed all their sabres bare, | scription.) (Slow.) ( With force. ) Flashed as they turned in air. Sabring the gunners there, | Charging an drmy \ while All the world wondered ; || Plunged in the battery-smoke. PIECES ANNOTATED. 1 17 Right through the line they br6ke ; Cossack and Russian ( Slow.) Reeled from their sabre-stroke Shdttered \ and sundered. \ Then | they rode back, but nbt — | Not the Six Hundred. || (Lofty tone.) When can their glory fade ? Oh, the wild charge they made, | All the world wondered. — Honour the charge they made ! Honour the Light Brigade 1 Gallant Six Hundred. THE EVE OF WATERLOO. (Bright There was a sound of revelry by night, tone.) And Belgium's capital had gathered thdn Her beauty and her chivalry ; — and bright The lamps shone o'qx fair w6men and brave mfen. I A thousand hearts beat happily | and when (Round tone Music ardse | with its voluptuous swSU — and soft.) Soft eyes looked love to eyes that spake again; (Bright tone.) And all went merry as a marriage bbll. (Deep tone &' But hush I hark 1 a deep sound strikes like a slow time.) rising knell. || Did ye not hear it ? —No ; 'twas but the wind. Or the car rattling o'er the stony street ; (Bright On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined, tone.) No sleep till morn when youth and pleasure mdet To chase the glowing hours with^/«^ feet. || Il8 PIECES ANNOTATED. {Deeptone.)Bnt, hark I — that heavy sound breaks in once more, As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; And nearer \ clearer \ deadlier than before | (Forcible.) Arm! arm! It is — it is the cannon! s 6pening roar ! (In Tremu- Ah ! iAen and tAere was hurrying to and fr6 lous tone.) And gathering tears, and tremblings of dis- tress, And cheeks all pale, which | but an hour ago | Blushed | at the praise of their own loveli- ness ; I And there were sudden partings \ such as press The life from out young hearts | and choking sighs Which ne'er might be repeated. | Who could guess I If ever more should meet those mutual e]^es, Since | upon night so swdet | such hwful mbrn could rise ! ( Quick and And there was mounting — in hot haste; the ■orotund st&d, tone.) The mustering sqdadron, and the clattering cdr Went pouring forward with impetuous sp^ed And swiftly forming in the ranks of wdr ; (Slow and And the deep thunder, | peal on peal, ] afar, \ orotund And near, \ the beat of the alarming drilm tone.) Jioused u]i the soldier | ere the morning siar ; \ While thronged the citizens | with terror ddmb, | Or whispering | with white lips | ( Inawhisptr; ~. /-v . i vocalisation inefoel they CO me / they come." being slight.) PIECES ANNOTATED. II9 EXTRACT FROM ATHERSTONE'S "LAST DAYS OF HERCULANEUM." ( Hightoneand ■ Mad frdnzy fires him libw 1 quick time.) He plants against the wall his feet : — his chain Grasps ; — tugs with giant strength, to force away The deep-striven staple; — yells and shrieks with rage ; And 1 like a desert lion in the snare, i?a^/?zf to break his t6ils | to and fro bounds. — (Lowtoneand But see ! — the ground is 6pening : — a blue slow time.) light Mounts, gently waving, — noiseless : — thin and cold It seems, and like a rainbow tint, not flame ; But I by its lustre, | on the earth outstretched, Behold the lifeless child ! his dress is singed. And, o'fer his face serine, a darkened line (Slow and Points out the lightning's track. = The father with feeling.) saw, — And all his fury fifed : — a dead calm fell That instant on him : — speechless — fixed — he stood, And I with a look that never wandered \ gazed (Tenderly.) Intensely on the corse. Those laughing eyes Were not yet cldsed, — and round those rosy • lips The wonted smile returned. — Silent and pale (Sad tone.) The father stands : no tear is in his eye : — (Resonant.) The thunders bdllow — but he hears them I20 PIECES ANNOTATED. The ground lifts like a sdaj — he knows it not: — The strong walls grind and gape :— the vaulted r6of Takes shape like bubble tossing in the wind = ( Tender, See ! he looks up and smiles ; for death to him slow and low.) Is happiness. — Yet, could one last embrace Be given, 'twere still a sweeter thing to die. = It will be given. — Look ! how the rdlling ground. At every swfell, nearer and still more near M6ves, towards the father's outstretched drms, his boy : Once he has touched his garment : — how his eye Lightens with love and hope and anxious fears! Ha ! see ! he has him now I he clasps him round ; (Passionate Kisses his face ; puts back the curling locks tenderness.) That shaded his fine brow ; looks in his eyes; Grasps | in his own | those little dimpled hands ; Then | folds him to his breast, as he was wont To lie when sleeping ; and resigned | awaits undreaded death. ( Slowandlow.) And death came soon and swift And pangless. — The huge pile sank down at once « Into the Opening earth. Walls— arches — r6of— And deep foundation stones— all mingling — fell! PIECES ANNOTATED. 121 Extract from a Short Sacred Drama, "THE SON OF PERDITION." By G. Blatch. [^Itnmediately after a soliloquy by Judas, whi e he yet trembles at the result of his meditations, a dark cloud appears before him, which slowly unfolds and discovers a majestic figure of great personal beauty, but bearing on its features the impress of the deadliest passions. '\ Judas. Ha ! what art tlwu That thus intrudest on my misery, With such unearthly glare ? Satan. Thine enemy I The enemy of souls I the foe of Heaven I — Shrink not, nor look aghast— thou know'st it true ; And evett Satan can bear righteous record If that his purpose need it. Judas. Specious fiend, Why dost thou blast me with thy presence thtis ? Hdnce ! — back to Hell's remotest shades begone. I do adjure thee by the living — Satan. Hold 1 Hold ! Judas. — Name thou not the mighty name ; It is denied thee. Never more thy lips Shall give it utterance. — Twas my purpose now To tell thee — thou art mine : thy hour is come ; Thy span of mortal being's well nigh closed ; The foredoomed thread of thy accursed life Hath reached its almost, utmost verge on earth ; The long remainder of existence, all The countless years of dread eternity. Shall usher fendless torments to the wretch That da ed betray the righteous Son of God ! — 122 PIECES ANNOTATED. Hd, Judas ! tre'mblest ? 'Twas a damning deed, And merits well the destiny of hell. — Ay, thou art mine for ever ! — Not the wbrst, The boldest rebel in demoniac form. Hath e'er conceived so blasphemous a crime. And then, the holy seeming thou didst bfear. When first the Saviour called thee to Himsdif — The righteous semblance turned to deepest crime — Hath added tenfold to thy misery ! = Judas ! thou art one that human kind Can never parallel again. Albne thou standest Distinct in thine incomparable guilt. Immeasurable, unpardonable, Thy matchless sin. — Ha ! shrinkest ? — tremblest ? — Judas, 'tis in vakn To seek repose 'neath such a weight of crime ! Thou call'st for sleep, for sweet, refreshing sleep. The blest reward of wearied innocence, — The boon awarded only to the good ! Canst thou then dare to think of sldep ? Canst thou Presume to hope the forfeited repose Accorded only to the guileless soul ? — Vain mortal ! To thy doomed existence now Only one sleep can be available : — The tomb alone can give thy body rdst ; Thy soul can ne'er know slumber nor repose. Till the last awful trump shall sdund, thy clay May find oblivion in the rotting grdve ; But the ethereal essence of thy life, The soul imperishable, shall wing its way To endless torments ! = Hark ! the spirits lost, The denizens of hell, unite their cries PIECES ANNOTATED. 1 23 To welcome thee among them. = Come, then, come — No peace is to thee here. Shake off thy clay : Son of perdition ! give thy body rdst ! Curse God and die ! So Satan counsels thee. Thy fate is sealed. And see ;— the glorious host Of earth's reformers — ministers of Him Who died, by thee betrayed — approach thee now, To cilrse thee, — ay, to curse thee ! = I must hdnce ; The light of righteousness offends my sight. = Judas ! we speedily shall meet again ! MARINO FALIERO'S ADDRESS. (Solemn I speak to Time and to Eternity, monotone.) Of which I grow a portion — not to man. (Invoking.) Ye dements | in which to be resolved I hasten | let my voice be as a spirit Upon you ! — ye blue w£ves ! which bore my banner ! — Ye winds ! which fluttered o'er as if ye loved it. And filled my swelling sails, as they were wafted To many a triumph t — Thou my native earth. Which I have blkd for — and thou, foreign earth, Which drank this willing blood from many a wbund I — ■ Ye stones, in which my gore will not sink, but Reek up to Heaven ! — ye skies, which will re- ceive it ! — Thou siin ! which shinest on thdse things — and Th6u! Who kindlest and who quenchest suns ! — Attest ! = 124 PIECES ANNOTATED. / am not innocent — but are these guiltless ? — I perish, but not un&venged ;—/ar ages Float up from the abyss of time to be And show these ^yes — before they close, — the doom f With in- Of this proud city, — and I leave my curse tensity.) On her and hers — for ever : = Yes, \ the hours Are silently engendering of the day, -'' When she, who built against Attila a bulwark, Shall yield — and bloodlessly and basely yield — Unto a bastard Attila, without Shedding so-much blood in her last defence, As these old veins \ oft drained in shielding her | Shall pour in sacrifice. — She shall be boilght (Scornful.) And sbld, and be an appanage to those Who shall despise her ! — ^She shall stoop to be A province for an empire, p^tty t6wn In lieu of ckpital — with slaves for senates, Bfeggars for nobles, panders for a pfeople ! = Then — when the Hebrew's in thy palaces — The Hun in thy high places — and the Greek Walks o'er thy mart and smiles on it for his — When thy patricians beg their bitter bread In narrow streets, and | in their shdmeful need | Make their nobility a plea iox pity I — When all the ills of conquered states shall cling to thee. Vice without splendour, sin without relief E'en from the gloss of love to smooth it o'dr. But —in its stead- — coarse lusts of hdbitude, Priirient yet passionless, cdld stddied lewdness, Depraving nature's frailty to an art ; — PIECES ANNOTATED. 12 5 When th&se and more are heavy on thee — when Smiles without mirth, and pastimes without pleasure, Yoiith without hdnour, age without respdct, Meanness and weakness, and a sense of woe | 'Gainst KflTTCh thou wilt not strive, and dar'st not milrmur, | Have made thee last and wbrst of peopled deserts : — (Low tone aiid Then — in the last gasp of thine agony, — with passion. ) ^xca^'it thy many murders, — think of mine != (Loud tone. Thou den of drunkards with the blood of scornful, and princes! — passionate. ) Gehenna of the Waters ! — thou Sea Sodom ! Thus I devote thee to the infernal gods 1 Thee and thy serpent seed ! = (Middle tone. Slave, do thine office . gradually ris- Strike, as I struck ih.efoe I — strike as I would tng to the last "■strike" ; Have Struck those tyrants I — strike deep as my then the last , j three words m middle tone.) STRIKE — and but once. THE FLIGHT OF XERXES. By Miss Jewsbury. (Descriptive.) I saw him on the battle eve (Proudly.) When, like a king,'^ he bore him — Proud hosts'^ in glittering helm and greave And prouder chiefs before him ; The warrior and the warrior's dkds — The morrow and the morrow's meeds — 126 PIECES ANNOTATED. No daunting thoughts came o'er him ; (Slowly.) He looked around him — and his eye^ Defiance flashed — to edrth* — to sk5^. He looked on 6cean^ — its broad breast Was covered withJajsy?««^y — On earth^ ; — and saw from east to west, His bannered millions meet ; While rock'' and glen and cave and coast Shook with the war-cry of that host, The thunder of their feet ! — (Slow and He heard the imperial echoes ring, — sonorous.) He heard — a.nd fell himself — a king. = (Slow andwith I saw him next alone. — Nor camp, acertainsadness.) Nor chief his steps attended ; Nor banner blazed, nor courser's tramp With war-cries proudly blended. — He stood — albne, — whom Fortune high So lately seemed to deify ; He, who with Heaven contended, Fled^ like a fiigitive and slave ! Behind^ — the fde ; befdre — the wave. (Slow andwith He stood : — fleet, army, treasure — gone,- feeling.) ( Quicker and higher.) (Reflective : serious.) Alone and in despair ! But wave and wind swept ruthless on, For they were monarchs there ; And Xerxes, in a single bark. Where late his thousand ships were dark, Must all \h&\x fury dare; — What a revenge^" — a trophy, this — For thee — immortal Salamis ! PIECES ANNOTATED. 1 27 I. Raise yourself to your full height, and cross arms on breast. 2. Sweep both arms out, palm upwards; emphasize at "chiefs," then drop. 3. Try to put the proper expression into your face, and, if pos- sible, also into your eyes. 4. Direct eyes and point right hand down- wards; then, with a graceful curve, point and look upwards at "sky," at the same time drawing your right foot back. 5. Point with right hand, palm rather up, nearly to your level front, and move slightly towards right. 6. Point downwards to right ; at " saw " move hand, index finger out, knuckles up, back towards breast. 7. Sweep out right arm, level front, towards right ; bring up left arm and sweep out towards left; at "shook" emphasize gesture, and drop hands. 8. Throw out right arm, rather towards front. 9. Point with right hand, palm up, behind you ; then, with graceful curve, point front downwards at "before," with index finger, knuckles up. 10. Extend both arms, level front, palm up ; at " trophy " give an emphatic gesture, and drop at "this." THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS. King Francis was a hearty King, — and loved a royal sp6rt, — And — one day — as his lions fotight — sat looking on the court ; The nobles filled the benches round, ^ the ladies by their side, And 'mongst them, Count de Lorge, with one he hoped to make his bride : — And truly 'twas a gallant-^vag^ to see that courtly show, — Valour and love and a King — above, and the royal beasts — below. Ramped and roared the lions,^ with horrid laughing jaws ; They bit — they gMred — gave blows like bdams — a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled* one o'er another, Till all the pit,^ with sand and mane, seemed in a thunderous smother ; 128 PIECES ANNOTATED. The bloody foam, above the bars, came whizzing^ through the air ; = Said Francis then,—" Faith, gentlemen, 'twere better here' than there ! " De Lorge's love o'erheard the King — a beauteous, lively dame. With smiling lips and sharp black eyes, which always seemed the same ; — She mused, ^ — " The Count, my lover, is as brave as brave can be. He surely would do desp'rate things to show his love of me t — • King, ladies, lovers, all look on — the chance is wondrous fine^ :— I'll drop my glove to prbve his love ; great glory will be mine ! " She dropped^" her glove to prove his love ; then — looked at him and smiled ; He bowed — and — in a moment — ledpf^ among the lions wild ; The leap was quick, return was quick — he soon regained his place. Then — threw'^^ the glove, but not with lihe, rfght in the lady's face ! = "Bravo ! " cried Francis, ''rightly done," and he rose from where he sat ; " Not Ibve," quoth he, " but vdnity sets love a task like that I" I. Extend right hand in front, palm up, and sweep round to right ; then turn hand, knuckles up, and point with index finger. 2. Both PIECES ANNOTATED. I2g hands out, palm up ; then drop left arm, and at "valour" point with right forefinger rather over left shoulder, then sweep round and point forwards and downwards at "below." 3. Clench hands and stamp with right foot, at the same time try to put some harshness into the voice. 4. Make a motion with both hands as if two animals were rolling over each other. 5. Drop left arm, and point to pit with right hand, palm up, moving hand slightly to right; drop at "smother." 6. Throw up right arm, and revolve forefinger at ' ' whizzing ; " then drop. 7. Point backwards towards right, with right forefinger, and then towards pit at "there." 8. Support right elbow in left hand, and place right forefinger on lips ; droop head slightly forward. 9. Raise head and give a slightly outward motion with right hand ; pause at "fine;" then brighten up the voice. 10. Slide right foot forward, resting left foot on ball of toe only, and with right forefinger and thumb appear to drop something ; then recover to left foot ; turn to right, and smile; then turn to left, and bow. II. Sharp note, slide right foot forward, throw both arms out quickly, palms upwards, then drop ; recover quickly on left leg. 12. Appear to hurl a glove at some- body to your left front. THE CURSE FROM "CLAUDIAN." (Kindly furnished by Wilson Barrett, Esq.) Be youngi — for ever — through the centuries. See genera- tions iorti^ — and age — and die; and all who flattered,* served or loved thee — dust But iAou'^ — live on.* Thy coiirse^like baneful star* across the skj^ — shall blight^ and wither a// upon thy track. To /ove thee,^ or to be beldved dy thee^ — ^alike — shall poison, maim, and kill. The inno- cent sunshine^'' shall die out before thee, and the black shadow^i of misfortune follow. Thy soul shall hanker^"^ — thirst — and famish to do good, and try — in vain — to do it. Thy happiness — as pure^' as crystal well touched by thy lips — shall muddy at its source. Thy pity^* shall envenom what 'twould so6the ; be poison^^ to the wdund, till thou could'st prayi* for death — ^and pray for it — in vain.^'^ Thy charity^^ which might have comforted one half the King- dom's p6or — breed pestilence and ruin — But thou^^ — live on I30 PIECES ANNOTATED. in thy never-failing youth, until the vaulted rocks shall split — and fall — and mass themselves before the barriers of granite; until a gulf 2" be struck 'twixt thee and me — then, thou^i shalt choose either to die, or live — acciirsed till doom = From dying lips,^^ this ctirse from G6d has fallen. I. Raise right hand, palm up, half front, emphasize gesture at "for ever," and drop. 2. Extend both hands, palm up, about level of breast; at "age," emphasize gesture; at "die," drop. 3. Extend right hand, palm up ; at " served," emphasize ; at "loved," bring hand back to breast ; at "dust," direct arm downwards, pointing to ground, but don't drop. 4. Bring hand upwards, with a turn, to level of breast, knuckles up and index finger alone pointing. 5. Turn hand, palm up, and emphasize. 6. Raise hand, palm inwards, index finger alone pointing to sky. 7. Lean forward on right foot, bring hand down, palm lather outwards ; at "wither," emphasize gesture, and then drop, resuming first position. 8. Both hands, palm up, extended. 9. Bring both hands to breast ; keep left hand there ; extend right, palm down, at "poison ;" at "maim," raise hand slightly, at the same time closing it; at "kill," drop both hands. 10. Open right hand extended up- wards, eyes in same direction j at '■ die," bring closed hand back close to he.id and look straight forward. 11. Lower hand, palm down, move it towards right, and drop. 12. Bring right hand up to breast, gradu- ally closing it tightly ; at "in vain," extend hand, palm up then drop. 13. Extend both hands, palm up, about level with breast. 14. Right hand index finger brought up towards breast; at "envenom," extend hand out, palm down, and drop at "soothe." 15. Bring right foot behind left, extend both hands, palm up, then drop left arm. 16. Clasp both hands on breast and look upwards. 17. Drop clasped hands forward, and let head sink on breast. 18. Extend both arms, palm up; at "comforted," bring back to breast and clasp hands; at "pestilence," extend both hands outwards and downwards, palm down, then drop. 19. Extend open right hand; at "live on," emphasize gesture ; at " vaulted," turn hand upwards ; at "split," give an upward cut with hand; at "fall," bring hand down to level of waist; at "mass," bring up left hand to same level, and emphasize with both hands ; at "granite," drop. 20. Sweep with right hand out horizon- tally in front toward right ; turn hand and point with index finger at "thee;" at "me," bring back to breast. 21. Right index finger pointing 5 at "die," turn hand, palm up, and emphasize; at "live," raise hand about level of head ; at " accursed," bring back closed hand towards head, turn away head and half close eyes; at "doom," drop hand, and direct eyes forward. 22. Place open left hand on breast, raise eyes and open right hand upwards ; when uttering "God," close eyes, bend head downwards and slightly towards left ; drop arm at "fallen." PIECES ANNOTATED. 131 THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE LANDSTORM. By Korner. Father of Earth and Heaven ! I call Thy name !^— Round me^ the snibke and shout of battle r611 ; My eyes^ are dazzled with the rustling flime ; •Father ! sustain'' an untried soldier's soul. — ■ Or life, or death, — whatever be the g6al That crowns, or closes round, this struggling hoiir, — Thou knowest, if ever, from my spirit, stole One deeper prayer, 'twas — that no cloud might lower On my young fame ! = O h^ar !^ — God of eternal power ! God ! Thou art mkrciful I = The wintry storm. The cloud that pours the thunder from its w6mb. But show the sterner grandeur of Thy form ; The lightnings,^ glancing through the midnight gloom To Faith's raised eye as calm, as lovely, come, As splendours'' of the autumnal evening star. As roses shaken by the breezes plume, When — like cool incense — comes the dewy air. And, on the gdlden wave'' the sdnset btlrns afar. God ! Thou art mighty ! = At Thy footstool bodnd. Lie gazing to Thee, Chance and Life and Death ; Nor in the Angel circle flaming round, — Nor in the million worlds that blaze bendath, — Is on^ that can withstand Thy wrath's hot breath. Woe — in Thy fr6wn ! in Thy smile — victory — Hear my last prayer !=I ask no mortal wreath ; — Let but these eyes my rescued country see, — Then — take my spirit^ — All Omnipotent— to Thee. 132 PIECES ANNOTATED. ^"Now for the fight !^i — now for the cannon peal ! — FORWARD !i2_through blood and toil, and cloud and fire! Glorious the shhck, the shdut, the crash of steel, The volley's roll, the rocket's blasting spire ; = ^^They shake ! — like broken waves, their squares retire. = ^*0n them, hussars ! = Now — give them rein and ?ieel ; — Think of the orphaned child, the milrdered sire : — Earth calls for blood, — in thtinder on them whdel ! — ^^This hour to thraldom's fate shall set the triumph seal ! The first three verses must be all given with sonorousness, and rather in slow time ; the last verse in high tone and quick, i. Clasp hands and look upwards, standing in second position. 2. Assume first posi- tion, sweep right hand, palm down, towards right, and drop. 3. Place left hand on eyes. 4. Left hand on heart, right hand, palm up, extended upwards, rather towards front, eyes also in same direction. 5. Quick jerk with right index finger, and bring back to breast. 6. Sweep hand slowly out, palm up, towards right ; then curve down, and at "roses" point with index finger towards ground ; drop at " plume." 7. Extend right arm, palm up, rather towards front, about level of breast. 8. Extend right hand out emphatically, palm up. 9. Place both hands on left breast, and then slowly extend right arm upwards towards front. 10. Quicker and resonant. Put all your soul out. II. Bring clenched hand quickly up to breast. 12. Sweep arm boldly out towards front, at the same time assuming second position. 13. Re- sume first position, bend slightly forward, direct right hand outwards, palm down, and drop at "retire." 14. Spring up to your full height, and 12. 15. This line slowly and in triumphant tone. THE BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE. By Macaulay. (Solemn tone.) ^Now | glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are ! (Bright.) ^And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Navarre. — PIECES ANNOTATED. 1 33 (Joyous.) Now I let there be the merry sound of music and of dance Through thy cornfields green and sunny vines, O pleasant land of France ! (Affectionate.) AnA thou, ^Rochelle | our own Rochelle | proud city of the waters, Again | let rapture light the eyes of all thy mourning daughters : As thou wert constant in our ills be joyous in our joy. For *cold I and stiff | and still | are they who wrought thy walls annoy. || (Exulting.) 'Hurrah ! Hurrah ! a single field has turned the chance of war : Hurrah 1 Hurrah ! for Ivry* and Henry of Navarre ! (Anxious.) Oh ! how our hearts were beating, when, at the dawn of day, 'We saw the army of the League drawn out in long array ; With all its priest-led citizens and all its rebel peers. And Appenzel's stout infantry and Egmont's Flemish spears. (Fierce indig- ^ There rode the brood of false Lorraine, the nation.) curses of our land ! And dark Mayenne was in their midst, a truncheon in his hand : * Pronounced Ee-vry, 134 PIECES ANNOTATED. And, as we looked on them, we thought of Seine's empurpled flood. And good Coligni's* hoary hair all dabbled with his blood ; (Invoking) ''And we cried unto the living Power who rules the fate of war, To fight for His own holy name and Henry of Navarre ! 11 (Descriptive.) The king has come to marshal us, all in his armour drest ; And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest. — ( Tenderly. ) "He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye ; (Sternly.) "He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high. (Courteously.) Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing, Down all our line, a deafening shout, " Long hve our lord the king !"= (Encourag- "And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full ingly.) well he may — For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray — Press where you see my white plume shine, amidst the ranks of war, And be your oriflamme, to-day, the helmet of Navarre." * Co-leen-ye. PIECES ANNOTATKD. 135 ( Excitedly and Hurrah ! the foes are moving ! Hark to the in quick time.) mingled din Of fife and steed and trump and drum and roaring culverin ! i^The fiery Duke is speeding fast across St. Andre's plain, With all the hireling chivalry of Guelders and Almayne — ( With instiga-" Now — by the lips of those ye love, fair tion.) gentlemen of France, '^'^ Charge for the golden lilies now ! Upon them with the lance !" ( With anima- A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thou- tion and sand spears in rest, energy.) A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest ! i^And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding star. Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre ! (Exultation Now, heaven be praised, the day is ours I with thank- Mayenne hath turned his rein ; Julness.) D'Aumale* hath cried for quarter ; the Flemish Count is slain. Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a Biscay gale ; The field is heaped with bleeding steeds | And flags | and cloven mail. — * Do-mal. 136 PIECES ANNOTATED. (Threatening.) And. then — we thought on vengeance \ and all along our van " Remember St. Bartholomew ! " was passed from man to man ; (Entreating.) But out spoke gentle Henry, " No Frenchman is my foe : Down, down, with every foreigner, but let your brethren go." — ( Admiration.) Oh. ! was there ever suck a knight, in friend- ship or in war. As our Sovereign lord, King Henry, the soldier of Navarre ! (Sarcastic Ho ! maidens of Vienna ! Ho ! matrons of bitterness.) Lucerne ! Weep, weep, and rend your hair, for those who never shall return. Ho ! Philip, send, for charity, thy Mexican pistoles. That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's souls ! Ho ! gallant nobles of the League, look that your arms be bright ! Ho ! burghers of St. Genevifeve, keep watch and ward to-night ! (Reverently.) For ^^our God hath crushed the tyrant, our God hath raised the slave, And i^mocked the counsel of the wise and the valour of the brave. — (Gratitude.) ^Then glory to His Holy name, from whom all glories are ; (Admiration ^And glory to pur Sovereign lord, King Henry and love.) of Navarre, PIECES ANNOTATED. 137 I. Raise both arms to heaven appealingly. 2. Drop left arm, and sweep right arm round, palm upwards, and then drop. 3. Extend both arms slightly, then drop. 4. Point with right hand to the ground. J. Wave right hand twice over head. 6. Place left hand on heart. 7- Raise right hand to horizontal position, palm upwards, and sweep slowly round. 8. Turn palm downwards, and use index finger, then droji 9. Raise right hand towards heaven. 10. Point to left with open left hand, palm upwards. 11. Point to right with right index finger. 12. Point with right index finger and move round to right. 13. Throw out your right hand, palm upwards, at "charge" and "upon." 14. Put hands together, throw them out quickly, palm downwards ; let left drop, sweep right round, and throw it out horizontally at "rushed;" at "blazed," point with right index finger. 15. Raise open right hand above head ; clench it at the word " crushed," which is to be uttered in appropriate tone. 16. Throw right out, palm outwards. SCENE FROM VICTOR HUGO'S "RUY BLAS." (Cheering tone.) Cesar. (R. Left hand on Rufs right shoulder^ Hope yfet ! (Mournfultone.) Ruy (L.) Hopejci^/ — Brother, you do not knovp^you shall I =^ Beneath (High tone : This sullying and dishonouring garb^ passionate.) To have lost joy and pride and manhood's naught. (Slow tone: I am a slave^ — a vile slave — and what withintensity.) niatter^ ?= Listen, brother* ! — In my breast, a serpent, (Low tone: full With a tooth of flame, winds round and of feeling and round my heart passion.) Its coils of folded vfenom. =Zafari ! My outside^ shocks thee ! Could'st thou see within^ ! (Surprise.) Cesar. I do not understand ! Ruy. Suppose" — invent — ■ 138 PIECES ANNOTATED. Imagine — dr&m — rack out thy brains, and search (High tone.) For something wild, incdlculable — mad, A dazzling fatality ! — a passion (Intense and That like delicious poison, drags my soul^ slow.) Towards an abyss, where crime and ruin wait. — Thou canst not gu&s? Who could? — ■ Brother, in the Rapid whirlpool' of the destiny that sweeps Me down, list^" ! hdar ! I madly love the Qileen ! (Amazed.) Cesar. The Qu^en ! (High tone : Ruy. Love her with heart oijlanie^^ — rapid, soft, with veins and tender.) Of fire! So helpless,!^ beautiful, and young— So wretched 'mid the vile intrigues of this (Narrative.) Vile Court !=Brother, she goes each night to the Convent of Rosara — thou knowest — in the street Of Ortaleza. She is fond of flowers. And one sort chiefly — a blue flower, that grows In Germany, her native land. — Each day I go a league to gather some. — I find them In the forest^^. — At midnight, like a thief, I scale the vvall,i* and leave them near a bank ( Low tone,and She oft reclines on. — Yesterday, I dared emphatic.) Tp put a letter 'mid the flowers. You hear, PIECES ANNOTATED. 139 Brother, a letter. Ah ! you pity me ! I see — Ifeel you do ! — Some night the guard Will hear and fire. — Well, I shall die near heris— The sweeiest^^ holiest death for Ruy Bias ! — ( With feeling Oh ! I would sell the jewel of my mind and passion. ) To the eternal foe, to be but one Of those young Cavaliers, who are permitted (Despairing.) To approach her !=Leave nie,^^ brother. Go— go ! Leave'-^ thou the miserable fool who dares To hide, beneath a lackey's garb, the passions Of a King. ( With deep Cesar. Leave thee ^P — I who never feeling.) suffered — I who never felt grief — never loved ! A poor Mendicant, idling my day and night away — To whom, compassionately. Destiny Will sometimes throw a copper, — Ah, Ruy, 2° My friend, I envy thee, that thou canst love ! I. Place tips of right hand fingers on brea.st ; extend right hand, palm up, emjihasize gesture at "pride" and "manhood." 2. Extend right hand, palm down, downwards, emphasize at "vile," then drop. S. Shrug shoulders, at the same time giving a slight outward jerk with both hands. 4. Right index finger raised ; then slowly bring hand back towards breast and describe, with index finger, two circles ending with word " venom." 5- Bring left hand up to breast, and sweep both arms outwards, palm up. 5. Bring right hand up, index finger pointing to breast. 7. Extend right hand, palm up, towards right front, empha- size each word ; at "rack out," give a quick circular motion towards forehead ; extend right hand upwards, and at "mad," bring down on forehead. 8. Bring right hand up to brenst, gradually clench it, and appear to drag something down towards right. 9. Move right hand in two under-circular motions, and at " sweeps," extend hand quickly downwards. 10. Bring right index finger up ; at " madly," clasp hands at top of breast, and move them downwards. 11, Bring hand up to breast, iz. Extend hands, palm up, emphasizing twice, then 140 PIECES ANNOTATED. drop left hand ; at "wretched," bring closed right hand up to breast ; at "vile," throw hand out, palm outwards, and downwards towards right. 13. Point with left hand to left. 14. Motion of right index finger upwards, palm down ; then turn and, with open hand, point towards right front. 15. Shrug shoulders. 16. Clasp hands on breast, and look upwards ; at " sell," lower eyes and bring hands down still clasped, and emphasize at " but." I7- Extend right hand, palm out- wards, towards right, turn head rather towards left, and emphasize twice at "go." 18. Walk off to left, fall into a chair, and drop head on hands. 19. Place left hand on to right shoulder of the other. 20. Both join hands. HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY. " ^To be or riot | to be | — "^that is the quhtion: || Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sioffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fdrtune, | ^Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And I by opposing \ ^Ind them? | —TO DIE || to sleep || No more* — and | by a sleep \ to say we end The hedrtache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to ! |1 'tis a consummation ^Devoutly to be wished. || ^To die— to sleep || — To SLfiEP ! ^perchance, TO DREAM ! || Ay, thkre's the rub ; For I in that sleep of death | ^what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off' this mortal coil, |1 Must give us p^use. || There's the respect] That makes calamity of '^so long ttfe ; \\ For who would bear the whips and scorns of (the) time. The oppressor's wrong, | the proud man's cbntumely j The pangs of despised love, | the law's delay, | The insolence of bflSce, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, | * i.e., Is dying only falling asleep and nothing more, fi.^., Consideration. PIECES ANNOTATED. I4I When "'he Mmself might his quietus make I'With a bare bodkin* ? | Who yionXA fardels bear, To groan and sweat under a weary life, | ^^ But that the dread of something '^^dfter death, — That undiscovered coiintry, from whose bourn No traveller returns, — puzzles the willi|| And makes us ^*rather bear the ills we have, '^Than fly to others ^^that we know not of? | Thus I CONSCIENCE does make cowards of us all ; | And thus the native hue of resohltion i^Is sicklied o'er with the p&le cast of thought ; \ And enterprises of great ptth and mdment, With this regard, their currents turji awry, ''8 And lose the "^^name \ of action." I. Stand still for a few moments as if in thought, right elbow sup- ported in left hand, forefinger and thumb of right hand .'.upporting the chin. 2. Nod the head. 3. Let the right arm fall on left arm, and raise your head. 4. Here let the arms loosen themselves, palms downwards, and then let them drop to the side. 5. Look upwards devoutly, and place open right hand on breast. 6. Meditative attitude — arms held down in front, fingers intertwined, head inclined slightly forward and downwards. "J. Raise head and look forward with an uneasy expression. 8. Raise the head gradually. 9. Utter these three words very slowly. 10. Extend right hand forwards. II. Strike left side with right hand. 12. Read down to this somewhat rapidly, for is not Hamlet pouring out quick coming fancies, as if strengthening his own failing resolution ? Read the next five lines more slowly and in a fuller tone. 13. Raise head and eyes slowly. 14. Extend both arms, hands open, palms upwards. 15. Turn hands round, and elevate them from the wrists. 16. Raise arms to level of head and drop them to your sides with a sigh. 17. Raise right hand, palm outward, and move it from right to left and back again slowly. 18. Extend both arms and raise the hands, palms outwards. 19. Make a gentle stroke of the hands forward, and then drop Ihem to your sides. MARC ANTONY'S ORATION. (Impressive Friends \ Romans | COUNTRYMEN | lend and slow.) me your ears. * An old term for a dagger. 142 PIECES ANNOTATED. I come to BURY Caesar^ | not | to PRAisEhim.^ | (Higher The evil that men do lives dfter them, pitch.) The gbod \ is oft interred with their bones. | Lower pitch.) So | let it be | with Cassar ! || (Higher The noble Brutus pitch.) Hath told you Csesar was ambitious^ | If it were so* | it was a grievous fadlt,^ (Sorrowful And grievously'' hath Csesar ^.nswered it. | tone.) _ Here' \ under leave^ of Brutus and the rdst | ( These two lines tobe I Yq.^ Brutus is an honourable man I tittered in a tone of apparent sincerity.) So are they all \ ALL honourable m^n) — Come I to speak of Csesar's funeral. II He was my friend \ faithful SitA just to me | But Brutus says he was ambitious | (Sarcastic.) And Brutus is an honourable man.' | He hath brought many captives home to Rome^" Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill. | ( Slow and sonorous.) Did this^^ in Csesar seem ambitious ? | ( With feel- When that the poor^ have cried \ C^sar hath ing.) wept I (Energetic. ) Ambition should be made of sterner^''' stuff, | Yet I Brutus says he was ambitious | (Sarcastic.) And Brutus is an honourable man. || ( Highpitch. ) You a// did see^" that | on the Lupercal | I thrIce presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse.^^ | Was this am- bition 1^ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious | (Sarcastic.) And, sure, he is an Mnourable man.'|| I speak I not to disprove what Brutus spoke | But here I am^^ to speak what I do know.|| PIECES ANNOTATED. 143 ( With feel- You all did love him onc^ \ not without cause, \ ing.) What cause withholds you then to mourn for him ? I (Despair- Oh judgment^* | thou art fled to brutish beasts, ing.) And MefC"^ have lost their reason. | Bear with me, 16 My heart is in the cofEn there \ with Csesar | And I vsmsX. pause^"^ \ till it come back to me.|| If you have tears \ prepare to shed them tibw. \ You all do know this mantle : \ I remember (Sorrowful T\\& first time ever Caesar put it on ; | tone.) 'Twas on a summer's evening in his tent ; That day he overcame the Nervii.|| (Sonorous Look ! | in this place | ran Cassius' dagger passionate, • through ; | and rapid.) See what a rent the envious Casca made ! | Through THIS | the well-beloved ^«<«'m stabbed, And I as he plucked his cursed steel awdy, | Mark how the blood of C?&5ax followed it. ( With emo- This | was the most unkindest cut of ill ! | tion.) For | when the noble Csesar saw HIM stab | IngrAtitude I more strong than traitor's drms | Quite vanquished him.|| Then burst his mighty heart \ And I in his mantle | covering up his face | Even at the base of Pompey's stitue (Which all the while ran blood) great C^sar FELL. Oh ! WHAT a fall was there, my countrymen, | Then I and you and all of us fell down Whilst bloody TREASON flourished over us. 144 PIECES ANNOTATED. I. Point slowly with right hand, and also direct eyes, to an imagin- ary coffin ; then drop hand. 2. Look upwards. 3. Extend both hands boldly, palm upwards, then drop left hand. 4. Bring right hand up towards right ear. 5. Extend hand, palm outwards. 6. DrojJ hand, at the same time looking at body. 7. Raise head. 8. Extend both hands, palm upwards, g. Shrug shoulders and utter the words in a sarcastic tone. 10. Extend right hand, palm upwards, emphasize "ransoms." 11. Sharp, firm gesture on " this " with right forefinger. 12. Sharp, firm gesture with right forefinger raised slightly above head, then emphasize "thrice," sweep hand upwards and bring hand down, palm slightly outwards, with an emphatic movement on second ' ' thrice. " 13. Point with right forefinger to breast, then at "know" throw hand outwards emphatically, 14. Clasp hands on breast, and look upwards. 15. Drop head on breast 16. Extend both hands, palm upwards ; at "heart," place right hand on heart ; at "there," extend iJ- downwards and point to coffin. 17. Shake head sadly. CLITO'S ADDRESS TO THE MEN OF ATHENS. (Kindly supplied to me by Wilson Barrett, Esq., whose impersonation of the hero in "Clito' was one of his happiest efforts. Freemen of Athens | Fellow citizens I Freemen by birth ! \ (Scornful) Have ye the souls of sldves ? \ How long shall bloody butchery and liist Be the crowned Kings of our unhappy stdte I And gross corrilption | like a pestilence | Ravage a spot the gods have made so fair?i| (Resonant.) Friends, | there are times when pktience is a crime, | Inaction, treason, — stifferance, a sin. | Such time is this \ when Liberty lies crashed, PIECES ANNOTATED. 145 ( With intensity andin low tone.) (Inspiring.) (Instigating.) Mangled and bleeding — trodden under foot ; — When aU-devouring\\z&a&& stalks the land | Like a lewd spectre with unwholesome breath | Making all things it breathes upon | undlan.\^ Sons of your /dt/iers / \ Heirs of Pdricles ! | Rise to h's height ! | Be worthy of your sires 1 If you will not do battle for yourselves, \ You I who are husbands \ will you see your wives Foully dishonoured [ a.ndsta.nd tamelyhy? \ You I who are fathers \ will you see your sons Consigned to death, to bondage, to despair ? Your daughters outraged, | ruined | and betrayed To worse than death | — the slavery of n (Appealing.) Freemen of Athens | will you stand by me In triumph | in defeat | in life | in death ? || (Passionate Freemen of Athens 1 \ Brothers ! | Will emotion.) you swear Upon your father's bones | and by the gods Whose altars hallow yonder Parthenon | That you will either p'erish \ or will pluck This plague-spot from your hedrt? 146 PIECES ANNOTATED. FROM "THE SPANISH MOTHER." (Narrative.) She glided hfere^ — she glided thdre^— before our wandering eyes, Nor anger showed, nor shame, nor f tar, — nor sorrow — nor surprise ; At every step — from soul to soul^ — a nameless, horror rdn* (Low and And made us pale and silent as thafi silent — • slow.) murdered — man. She sat — and calmly soothed her, child into a sldmber swfeet ; — Calmly the bright blood, on the floor, rolled'^ red around our f^et ; On placid fruits and bread lay soft the shadows of the wine, (Slow and While we — like marble figures — glared'' — a chill low.) — unmoving line, AH white and c61d=And moments thus flew by without a breath, A company of living things where dllvia& still — but death — (Narrative.) My hair rose up from roots of ice, as thus unnerved I stood And watched the only thing that stirred — the ripple of the blood. — At length — that woman's voice was heard, which broke the solemn spell. And human fear — displacing awe — upon our spirits f fell. PIECES ANNOTATED. 147 (Resonant " Ho ! slayers of the sinewless !^ — Ho ! tramp- and lers of the weak !' sarcastic.) What ! — shrink ye from the ghastly meats and life-bought wine ye sdek ? — Feed and beghne^'' — I wish to weep — I bring you out my stbre^'^ ( With in- Devour it^^ — waste it all — and then pass^' — tensity.) and be seen — no more, — (Higher tone Poison ? — is that your craven fear ?"=She and with seized a goblet up, scorn.) And raised it to her queenlikeihead as if to drain the cup. But our fierce leader grasped her wrist — " No I woman ! No" he said. " A mother's heart of love is deep — Give it your child instead." She only smiled a bitter smile — " Frenchman, I do not shrink, As pledge of my fidelity — behold the infant drink." I. Point with right index finger towards left, knuckles up ; then z towards right, knuckles down. 3. Bring right hand up to left breast. 4. Slowly move right hand round towards right, palm down and rather outwards. 5. Turn palm up, and point downwards. 6. Open right hand pointed towards floor, front and moving to right. 7. Biing right hand up towards breast, and move outwards slightly and slowly, palm outwards; drop at "cold." 8. The woman is supposed to start up here. 9. Emphasize 8, then drop. 10. Quick gesture with open right hand outwards. 11. Extend both arms, palms up. 12. Emphasize 11, then drop left hand. 13. Sweep towards right hand and extend it towards right, palm down. The gestures for the following are so self- evident that they need not be given ; but the last gesture, holding the goblet to the infant's mouth, must not be too pronounced. I AM proud to append the following letter received from Mr. Willard in response to a request that he would frankly give me his opinion as to my study of "The Spanish Mother." Coming from one who, by his 148 PIECES ANNOTATED. impersonation of Tarquin in Junius was universally admitted to have stepped into the very front rank of artistes, his letter is at once gratify- ing and valuable. The suggested alterations and additions refer to lines 15-18, " Princess' Theatre, March 29th, 1886. "Dear Sir, " I have, as you desired, carefully considered your ' Study in Elocu- tion,' and congratulate you most heartily upon the success with which you have treated a very difficult subject. Your treatment could scarcely ba improved upon, but, if I might, I would suggest the following altera- tions, not in any carping spirit, but as a proof that I have been interested in your work. " Yours faithfully, " Edward S. Willard." RIENZrS ADDRESS. [Two haughty factions in Rome were rivals of each other, and, in the feuds between them, Rienzi, u man of very humble birth but of good education and aspiring mind, saw a chance of deliverance for Rome. An insult having been offered to one of the citizens, he harangues the people on their many and bitter wrongs, and contrasts their ancient glory with their present degeneracy. The oppressors are put down, and Rienzi is then elected Tribune.] I come not here to talk. \ You know too well The story of our thrdldom : | We are | slaves f^ (Slow.) The bright sun rises^ to his course | and lights A race | of slaves ! || He sfets^ | and his last beam Falls I on a slS.ve.|| (Brighten up Not such as, swept along voice.) By the high tide of pdwer, the conqueror leads To crimson glory and undying fdme : ( With inten- But base* ] ignbble sldves ; | slaves to a horde sity and scorn. )0i petty tyrants, feudal despots, lords, \ Rich I in some dozen paltry villages, | Strbng in some hundred spearmen, \ only great PIECES ANNOTATED. I49 (Slow.) In that strange spell \ a name. || ( Quicker and Each hour, | dark fraud, higher tone.) Or open rapine, or protected mtirder, | Cries out against them. | But this very day. An honest man, my neighbour | there he standi I ( With Was striick, \ struck like a dog^ by one who passion.) wore The badge of Ursini ! because, forsooth, (Scornful and He tossed not high^ his ready cap in air, contempttwus Nor Hfted up his voice in servile shouts tone.) At sight of that great rufiSan ! ( Loud, passionate Be we min andfrowning. ) And suffer such dishonour? Men, and wash not The stain away in blood t \ (Low and slow.) Such shames are common. | / have known deeper wrongs | I that speak to you, 1 (Low and I had a brother once, ( a gracious boy, tender. ) Full of all gentleness and calmest hope, Of sweet and quiet jby ; | there was the look Of Heaven^ upon his face which limners give To the beloved disciple. | How I loved That gracious boy ! | younger by fifteen years, | Brother at dnce and sbn. || He left my side, A summer bloom on his fair checks, a smile I50 PIECES ANNOTATED. Parting his innocent lips. (Slow, low, and. In one short hour stern.) That Jiretty \ harmless boy | was slain. || ( With intensity i I saw gradually rising'Vas. corse, the mangled corse, and then | to passion.) I cried For VENGEANCE li^H RousE,ii ye Romans ! rouse^^ ye slaves ! | Have ye brave sons ? Look, in the next iierce brawl,^^ To see ■ them die I Have ye daughters fair ? Look, To see them live, torn from your arms^^ distained, dishonoured I (Slowandlow; And if ye dare to call ior justice, "lash" sharply. )'&& answered with the lash/ \ yet this — is Rome, That sat^^ upon her seven hills, and | from her throne Of beauty | ruled the world ! Yet w^ \ are Kbmans I \ Why, I in that elder day | to be a Roman Was greater than a King ! || And once again | Hear me, ye walls,^'' that echoed to the tread Of either Brutus, | once again I swear^'' (Slow, intense. The Eternal City shall be free ! Her sons lofty tone.) Shall walk with princes ! I. Extend both hands towards front, palm upwards, and drop. 2. Extend right hand up towards right, and drop at "slaves." 3. Point with index finger somewhat horizontally to left, drop at "falls." 4. Extend right hand rather downwards, palm downwards ; repeat eesture PIECES ANNOTATED. 151 on "ignoble ;" drop at "slaves."' 5. Extend right hand towards front, palm upwards. 6. Point to left with index finger of left hand. 7. Direct clenched right hand downwards violently. 8. Jerk right hand upwards, index finger extended. 9. Look upwards, and raise right hand forward gently a little above level of head, palm up. 10. Clench both hands. II. Fling out right hand, palm up. 12. Slide right foot forward, rest on right leg, the ball of left toe alone touching the ground ; repeat the gesture. 13. Point to the right, index finger out, back of the hand up. 14. Make a motion with both arms towards left, as if tearing away something from your breast, at the same time moving body backward ; drop left hand and bring right hand up to breast ; at " lash, " sweep right hand, index finger extended, down- wards towards right side. 15. Sweep right hand, palm up, round slowly towards right. 16. Extend both arms right and left respectively, palms up, and move your eyes slowly from right to left and back again. 17. Look upwards, raise open right hand, and at "shall" clench hand and emphasize the word. A copy of the Magazine, containing the above, was sent to M. Legouve, Membre de I'Academie Fran^aise, and one of the Council of the Conservatoire National de Muslque et de Declamation — the great training school of French aclors — who returned the following reply : — "Seine Porte (Seine-et-Marne). Monsieur, — II est evident que la gesticulation- pent s'enseigner comme I'intonation, mais dans quelle mesure, c'est li ce qu'il est fort difficile de regler. II faut consulter la nature de I'el^ve, et le caract^re du morceau. L'exemple que vous citez du discours de Rienzi me parait renfermer des indications justes, mais et. pareil cas il faut voir pour decider. Je ne puis que vous remercier, au nom de I'art de diction, des efforts que vous faites pour la transporter en Angleterre, et je ne doute qu'avec I'esprit d'initiative et d'intelligante ardeur que vous y apportez, vous ne puissiez arriver k des resultats heureux. Personne ne s'enfelicitera plus que moi, et je vous prie d'agreer I'expression de mes sentiments les plus distingues. — E. LEGOUVfi." THE LORD'S PRAYER. Our Father-which-art-in heaven — Hallowed be Thy Name | Thy kingdom cbme || Thy will | be done in earth | ds-it-is in hfeaven || Give-us this diy our daily bread || And forgive-us oUr trespasses as wfe forgive them that trespass against us || And Ifead-us-not | into temptdtion \ but | deliver-us from gvil II For I Thine is the kingdom | the power and the gldry II For ever and bver. || Amen. 152 PIECES ANNOTATED. salammb6's appeal. " speak t " said the high priest of Tanit. " WMt do you wish ? " "I /iOJ>ed— you have as much as J>romised-m& — " Salammb6 stammered, half disconcerted; then suddenly continued : " Why do you despise rah ? What have I neglkted in the rites ? You are my teacher, and you have said to me that no person understands better than / the mysteries of the goddess ; but there are some which you do not wish to tell me. Is not this trile, O father?" Schahabarim recalled the orders of Hamilcar concerning his daughter's education, and responded : " No / I have nothing more to teach you." "A spirit," she resumed, " urges me to this adoration. I have climbed the steps of i^schmffUn, God of the planets and intelligences ; I have slept under the golden olive-tree of Milkarth, pMron of all Tyrian colonies ; I have pushed open the gates of Bhal-KhamoHn, source of light and fertilisdtion ; I have sacrificed to the subterranean Cabdri ; to the gods of the winds, the rivers, the woods, and of the mountains ; — but all are too fdr, too high, too insensible. — You under- stand ? — Whereas Tanit mingles in my lifi, she fills my soul and I trlmble with internal dartings, as if she strtiggled to escape the cdnfines of my body. It seems to me that I shall hedr her voice, behbld her face. A brightness dazzles me, then I fall-back again into the shadows." (By permission from Sheldon's Salammbd of Flaubert.) 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