Rules for Stammerers. 261 "You must practise reading out loud to yourself, opening your mouth at the vowels as wide as you can, and first, till you have made a habit of it. perhaps keeping the cork in at Begin by reading poetry (which is easiest) the first thing in the morning, and then again in the evening before dinner. "Read for a quarter of an hour each time. Then try prose. But always keep up reading aloud, for months to come, or even for years. "2. You must, in reading and in speaking, mind your stops. You have been in the habit of speaking from an empty lung. You must learn to speak from a full one. For if there is no wind in the organ-bellows, the pipes will not sound; and also, an empty lung is an unwholesome and injurious thing. For if there is no air in the lungs, the blood is not oxygenated. The more you read aloud, from a full lung, the stronger and healthier, and more cheerful you will feel; for air is the finest of all tonics. "Now how to do this. Before beginning to read, take two or three long full breaths. And also (and this is an excellent rule) before you begin to speak to any one, especially if you are nervous, take two or three breaths and then open your mouth and speak. You will find the nervousness go, and the words come out, as by miracle. Remember Balaam's ass could not speak, till his mouth was opened.' "At each full stop, you should stop, and take a long breath; at a colon, a less full, at a semi-colon less, at a comma less still. But keep sacredly to the habit of breathing at every stop. Read and speak SLOW; and take care of the consonants, and the vowels will take care of themselves. "And how to take care of the consonants? By taking care of the tongue and lips. "Now if you will watch any one who speaks beautifully you will see, that the tongue lies quite quiet, on a level with the lower front teeth, and never flies up in the mouth. You will see also that they use their lips a great deal; and form the consonants with them. But you will see also, that they keep the upper lip down and still, so that the upper front teeth are hardly seen at all; while they move the under lip a great deal, making it play upon the upper. Watch the Bishop of Winchester (S. Wilberforce), or Bright, or any great actress, and you will see this. Now, I know (though I have not seen) that your tongue flies about in your mouth. It did in mine: it always does, because it is trying to do the work which the lips should do. So get into the habit of determinately keeping it down. You will find it easy enough after a while. But at first, when you speak and read, always be sure that you can feel your lower teeth against the tip of your tongue. I know a beautiful great lady who lets her tongue fly about in her mouth, and consequently you often cannot understand her. "Also keep your upper lip down, and right over your upper teeth, and pronounce the consonants with your lower lip against them. Some people will pronounce the consonants against the upper teeth, instead of the lip, and let the lip fly up. But it is dangerous. One of the most beautiful people I know does that when she is excited; and then you can hardly understand her. "Practise this (as I used) before a looking glass, to see that your upper lip is down tight, your mouth open, and your tongue lying low and still; and after a very little while, you will find it quite easy, because it is quite natural; because your organs will have returned to their natural uses, and you will be speaking like other people. "Lastly, use some sort of exercises morning and evening to expand your chest. Raising your arms over your head a few dozen times is as good as anything—or Indian clubs-or something of that kind. Anything to raise the ribs and expand the chest. "If you will attend to these rules, you can cure yourself. You will fail and fall back often. Never mind. You will succeed better and better each time, till habit becomes nature. I stammered far worse till I was five-and-thirty, or forty almost. But you are young, and can do what you choose easily. "Do not be discouraged about your lips. You will soon acquire the power of moving the under while you keep the upper still, if you take pains to open your mouth wide. "Summa :-1. Open your mouth. 2. Take full breaths and plenty of them, and mind your stops. 3. Keep your tongue quiet. 4. Keep your upper lip down. 5. Use your lower lip. 6. Read to yourself out loud. 7. Read and speak slow, slow, slow." CHAPTER XXV. 1868. AGED 49. ATTACKS OF THE PRESS - LECTURES ON SIXTEENTH CENTURY-LILLY'S EUPHUES-LAY-HELP-MR. LONGFELLOW-LETTERS ON EMIGRATION AND COLONIZATION-ON MILITARY EDUCATION-NEWMAN'S DREAM OF ST. GERONTIUS-Sandhurst-COMTISM-SIR HENRY TAYLOR ON CRIME AND ITS PUNISHMENT-LETTER FROM MR. DUNN-PROPOSED VISIT TO WEST INDIES-ICE ACTION IN SCOTLAND-LETTER FROM REV. WILLIAM HAR RISON. "LIFE, I repeat, is energy of love, Divine or human; exercised in pain, WORDSWORTH. "It is the best commentary on that epitome of the life of Christ which presents itself in its most splendid originality-that 'He went about doing good.' It is the point which the rarest and noblest of his followers have found it most difficult to imitate; it is the point in which His life transcended most absolutely the ideal of the attainments of His very greatest forerunners. The seclusion of the hermit, the self-maceration of the ascetic, the rapture of the mystic-all these are easier and more common than the unwearied toil of a self-renouncing love."-CANON FARRAR. CHAPTER XXV. THE professorial lectures this year were on the 16th century, and were crowded, as usual; but the severe attacks on his teaching in two leading newspapers in the preceding autumn had inclined him, for the honour of his University and for his own honour, to resign his post. But as he believed that both attacks sprang from some personal feeling, he thought it best, before sending in his resignation, to consult some of the Cambridge authorities, on whose friendship and impartiality he could rely. They strongly advised him to retain the Professorship, and on their advice, though the work was too heavy for him, he determined to keep it on for at least another year. Writing home at this time he says: "I have been very unhappy about your unhappiness about me, and cannot bear to think of your having a pang on my account. But you must remember that these battles and this abuse, painful as they may be, are what every man has to go through who attains any mark, or does any good in the world. Think how far more obloquy was gone through by Buckland, Milman, Maurice, Hare, Stanley, Robertson, Arnold; they have all had to fight their fight. But they conquered, and so shall I, please God, in spite of my mistakes. . . . In the meantime I will keep out of war, and do the duty that lies nearest me, that all may be well. So pray comfort yourself and think cheerfully and hopefully of the future, which after all is not so very dark, if one looks at it fairly. . . . I have got well through my lecture on Paracelsus. I should think there were a hundred men there, and the Public Orator and Wright-only about fifteen cards. So the men came for love. Then I heard a noble lecture from Mr. Maurice, and walked with him. I told my men to-day to read something of his. I am quite happy in the |