Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave',
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side'?
Been sworn my soldier'? bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength'?
a. And dost thou now fall over to my foes'?
b. Thou wear a lion's hide! Doff it for shame,

c. And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs.

King John, Act III., Scene 1. Crito. And I suppose that for acquiring strength in a high tone of voice, the very opposite class of pieces should be practiced upon-those which naturally require a high tone.

Bernardo. Certainly. But here one or two cautions are requisite. Care must be taken not to strain the voice by over-exertion; and, in the second place, when the entire piece read or spoken requires a high pitch, we must avoid the evil of a loud and vociferous beginning. Thus, in the following passage from an oration of Demosthenes, the series of questions ought to rise gradually in force as they proceed, although the pitch should be the same throughout the series. In the closing sentence, however, the voice should fall to a slow but forcible monotone.

What was the part of a faithful citizen? of a prudent, an active, and honest minister`? Was he not to secure Euboea, as our defense against all attacks by sea'? Was he not to make Boeotia our barrier on the midland side'? the cities bordering on Peloponnesus our bulwark on that quarter'? Was he not to attend with due precaution to the importation of corn, that this trade might be protected through all its progress up to our own harbor'? Was he not to cover those districts which we commanded by reasonable detachments'? to exert himself in the assembly for this purpose', while with equal zeal he labored to gain others to our interest and alliance'? Was he not to cut off the best and most important resources of our enemies, and to supply those in which our country was defective' ?—And all this you gained by my counsels and my administration.

Crito. It has occured to me that, as all possible varieties of emotions and feelings may be expressed in verse, and as the reading of verse requires the observance of certain pauses of melody, the sense and the sound may sometimes fail to harmonize.

Bernardo. That ought seldom to happen; for as a coincidence in the pauses of sense and melody is a capital beauty, a good poet will always strive to attain it. In reading verse, the pronunciation should conform as nearly to the melody as the sense will admit, care being taken to break the monotony by a judicious use of the inflections. You will observe that, in reading the following selections, I preserve the melody of the verse, while the monotony is broken by a judicious varying of the inflections. The first example, which is from Virgil, is the plaintive lamentation of Orpheus for his beloved Eurydice:

Thee', his lov'd wife', along the lonely shores;
Thee', his lov'd' wife', his mournful song deplores;
Thee', when the rising morning gives the light;

Thee', when the world was overspread with night.-VIRGIL.

The next is from Dryden, who thus paints the sad reverse of fortune suffered by Darius :

Deserted at his greatest need

By those his former bounty fed',

He chose a mournful muse,

Soft pity to infuse':

He sung Darius', great and good',
By too severe a fate,

Fallen', fallen, fallen, fallen',

a. These questions gradually increase in elevation of tone and intensity.
b. Here the voice suddenly falls, and takes a tone of the most bitter irony.
c. Spoken with the bitterest scorn.

Fallen' from his high estate,

And weltering in his blood.-Dryden.

I will give one more example, in which, also, there is a repetition of a word-a figure of speech which is sometimes used to mark the importance of some emphatical word or phrase.

Happy', happy, happy' pair'!
None but the brave',

None but the brave,

None but the brave, deserve the fair.

Crito. I observe in these examples that a sing-song monotony and tame. ness of expression are avoided by a judicious use of emphasis and inflections. But may not, sometimes, a sing-song tone be required, in order to express the sentiments or the feelings of the writer'?

Bernardo. I am very glad you have asked the question, for it recalls to my mind an English ballad of great power and beauty, in one portion of which this very sing-song tone of reading is required, to harmonize with the sense and the scene represented. It is the "Pauper's Drive," written by Thomas Noel. As we read the dirge which the driver sings, we can scarcely refrain from singing it too, and with a kind of careless sadness, which, in the closing of the fourth verse, changes to a plaintive and impressive re proof.

THE PAUPER'S DRIVE.

There's a grim one-horse hearse, in a jolly round trot;
To the church-yard a pauper is going, I wot;

The road it is rough, and the hearse has no springs,
And hark to the dirge which the sad driver sings:
Rattle his bones over the stones;

He's only a pauper whom nobody owns.

Oh where are the mourners'? alas! there are none;
He has left not a gap in the world now he's gone;
Not a tear in the eye of child, woman, or man:
To the grave with his carcass as fast as you can.
Rattle his bones over the stones;

He's only a pauper whom nobody owns.

What a jolting, and creaking, and splashing, and din!
The whip how it cracks, and the wheels how they spin!
How the dirt right and left o'er the hedges is hurled!
The pauper at length makes a noise in the world!
Rattle his bones over the stones ;

He's only a pauper whom nobody owns.

Poor pauper defunct! he has made some approach
To gentility', now that he's stretched in a coach';
He's taking a drive in his carriage at last,

But it will not be long if he goes on so fast:
Rattle his bones over the stones;

He's only a pauper whom nobody owns.

But a truce to this strain', for my soul it is sad,

To think that a heart, in humanity clad,"

Should make, like the brutes, such a desolate end',
And depart from the light without leaving a friend.
Bear softly his bones over the stones:

Though a pauper, he's one whom his Måker yet owns.

THOMAS NOEL.

Crito. The reading of this last line leads me to ask if the intonation denoted by the circumflex or wave is not frequently employed to express tender and pathetic feelings?

Bernardo. It is; and the "gentle rising inflection" which is mentioned in Rule IX. as the proper intonation for tender emotion is in reality the

Is

circumflex that terminates with the rising slide. Thus, in the example there given "Is your father well', the old man' of whom ye spake'? he' yet alive' ?"-the rising inflection, as marked, is really the ending of the circumflex. This kind of circumflex, it may be remarked, is the proper intonation of prayer, and of all serious appeal, and even of narrative into which tender emotion enters. Thus, if the following, which has no emphatic words, be read with tender feeling, every syllable will have a gentle circumflex or wave, ending with the upward slide:

"Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,

Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."—Gray.

In the following example, however, it is only the emphatic words which receive the circumflex, which is a little more conspicuous here than when it is given to every syllable.

"And is this all your store'? and a share of this do you offer to one you know not'? Then never saw I charity before'."

I have one more remark to make on this subject of expression. You have doubtless noticed that in very effective reading or speaking, into which emotion enters, a kind of tremor of the voice may often be observed. It is not confined to any one kind of emotion, but, when skillfully used, gives additional force to expressions of joy, rapture, triumph, scorn, and contempt, and also to those of great grief and anguish. Its two extremes tend to

ward laughter on the one hand, and crying on the other. We have an example of the former from Shakspeare, in Shylock's exultation at the decision of the learned judge, seemingly in his favor:

"A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel'!

O wise young judge', how I do honor thee!"

but still better in Gratiano's exultation at the discomfiture of the Jew: "O upright judge !-mark Jew;-O learned judge!"

and of the latter we have a good example in Shylock's grief, which shows itself in the tremulous tones of a broken-hearted old man:

"I pray you give me leave to go from hence:

I am not well; send the deed after me,
And I will sign it."

It is impossible, however, to appreciate the spirit of these extracts, and read them appropriately, without a knowledge of the whole play. The following, which almost every one would naturally read in a monotone, and with a slight tremor, will be better appreciated:

That old but truly beautiful piece, "The Beggar's Petition," loses all its pathos if not read with the tremor which we should expect from one whose condition is there represented. I will pronounce the first verse only:

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,

Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,
Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span;

Oh! give relief, and Heaven will bless your store."

It requires an accomplished rhetorician to read such pieces well.

ADDITIONAL ELOCUTIONARY EXERCISES,

WITH REFERENCES TO THE RULES.

[The figures refer to the rules indicated by them.]

Can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great and noble who only believes that, after a short turn on the stage of this world, he is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness forever' ?1

How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great and noble who only believes that, after a short turn on the stage of this world, he is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness forever ?3

b. Where amid the dark clouds of pagan philosophy, can he show us so clear a prospect of a future state', the immortality of the soul', the resurrection of the dead', and the general judgment', as in St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians`?

Can he show us, any where, amid the dark clouds of pagan philosophy, so clear a prospect of a future state', the immortality of the soul', the resurrection of the dead', and the general judgment', as in St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians'? (Rule VIII., Note.) Shall we, in your person, crown the author of the public calamities', or shall we destroy him?5

a. To advise the ignorant',8 relieve the needy, '8 comfort the afflicted', are duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives.

a. The miser is more industrious than the saint. The pains of getting',8 the fear of losing, and the inability of enjoying his wealth', have been the mark of satire in all ages.

a. The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, and full of sublime ideas. The figure of Death',8 the regal crown upon his head',8 his menace to Satan`,8 his advancing to the combat, the outcry at his birth', are circumstances too notable to be passed over in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors.-ADDISON'S description of MILTON'S Figure of Death.

b. Life consists not of a series of illustrious actions' or elegant enjoyments;5 the greater part of our time passes in compliance with necessities', in the performance of daily duties', in the removal of small inconveniences', in the procurement of petty pleasures. JOHNSON.

c. The ill-natured man, though but of equal parts with the good-natured man, gives himself a larger field to expatiate' in; he exposes those failings in human nature which the other would cast a veil over; laughs at vices which the other either excuses or conceals; falls indifferently upon friends or enemies'; exposes the person who has obliged' him; and, in short', sticks at nothing that may establish his character of a wit.-Spectator, No. 169.

When the proud steed shall know why man restrains

His fiery course, or drives him o'er the plains';

When the dull ox, why now he treads the clod,

Is now a victim, and now Egypt's god':~

Then shall man's pride and dullness comprehend

d. His actions', passions', being's' use and end':

d. Why doing, suffering', check'd', impell'd'-and why
This hour a slave', the next a deity'.

As no faculty of the mind is capable of more improvement than the memory',2 so none is in more danger of decay by disuse'.

Is the goodness' or wisdom'5 of the Divine Being more manifest in these his proceedings?3

Is the power or greatness' of the Divine Being manifest in these his proceedings' ? (Rule V., Note II.)

Whither shall I turn ?3

Shall I go to the Capitol' ?

Wretch that I am' !2 to what place shall I betake' myself?3
Alas! it is overflowed with my brother's blood'. Or shall I

a. a. a. These are exampless of commencing series.

b. This contains an example of a concluding series, in which all the particulars, except the last but one, have the falling inflection.

c. This contains an example of a concluding series, in which all the particulars have the falling inflection, because the concluding member has a pause with the rising inflec tion before the end.

d. d. Examples of the concluding series. Observe in this extract numerous examples of the pause of suspension, in which the voice preserves a monotone.

retire to my house ?5a Yet there I behold my mother plunged in misery, weeping and despairing'.

Virtue is of intrinsic value and good desert, and of indispensable obligation; not the creature of will', but necessary and immutable'; not local or temporary', but of equal extent and antiquity with the divine mind';6 not a mode of sensation', but everlasting truth';6 not dependent on power', but the guide of all power. Virtue is the foundation of honor and esteem', and the source of all beauty', order', and happiness' in nature'. Though gentle', yet not dull':

Strong', without rage'; without o'erflowing', full. 6-DENHAM.

But, waiving all other circumstances, let us balance the real situation of the opposing parties; from that we can form a true notion how very low our enemies are reduced. Here, regard to virtue' opposes insensibility to shame; purity', pollution; integrity', injustice; virtue', villainy;6 resolution', rage); dignity, defilement; regularity', riot. On one side are ranged equity', temperance', courage', prudence', and every virtue on the other', iniquity', luxury, cowardice', rashness', with every vice. Lastly', the struggle lies between wealth' and want'; the dignity' and degeneracy of reason; the force and the phrensy of the soul; between well-grounded hope' and widely-extended despair. In such a strife',8 in such a struggle as this', even though the zeal of men were wanting', must not the immortal gods give such shining virtues the superiority over so great and such complicated vices'?1 Certainly. 1-CICERO'S Oration against CATILINE. b. Vice is a monster of so frightful mien', As to be hated' needs but to be seen'

b. Yet seen too oft', familiar with her face',
c. We first endure', then pity', then embrace'.

But where th' extreme of vice' was ne'er agreed':
Ask where's the north, at York 'tis on the Tweed':

No creature owns it in the first degree,

But thinks his neighbor further gone than he.
E'en those who dwell beneath its very zone',

Or never feel the rage', or never own:
What happier natives shrink at with affright',
The hard inhabitant contends is right'.-POPE.

d. Shall burning Etna, if a sage requires,
Forget to thunder, and recall her fires'?

On air or sea new motions be impress'd,"

O blameless Bethel, to relieve thy breast'?

When this loose mountain trembles from on high,

Shall gravitation cease, while you go by!?

Or some old temple, nodding to its fall,

For Chartres' head reserve the hanging wall' ?—POPE.

I knew when seven justices could not make up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an if: as if you said so, then I said sô;11 and they shook hands', and were sworn brothers.-SHAKSPEARE.

What, Tubero, did that naked swôrde of yours mean in the battle of Pharsalia'? At whose breast' was its point aimed'? What was then the meaning of your arms, your spirit, your eyes', your hands', your ardor of soul? What did you desire', what wish for? I press the youth too much; he seems disturbed. Let me return to myself. I too bore arms on the same side'.-CICERO.

What is time?

I asked a spirit lost! but on the shriek

That pierced my soul! I shudder while I speak—

a. The application of the Fifth Rule here will be very apparent if the preceding sentence ("Alas!" etc.) be stricken out.

b. b. The word mien, being emphatic, must have the falling inflection: so also oft. c. This line well illustrates the beauty of the rule relating to a concluding series.

d. The pause of suspension in this extract denotes a sameness of voice, or monotone, wherever it is used.

e. The falling inflection throughout this example is nearly allied to the circumtex.