Sometimes she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail,
Tickling a parson's nose, as 'a lies asleep,
Then dreams he of another benefice:

Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep: and then anon
Drums in his ear; at which he starts and wakes;
And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two,
And sleeps again."

III. SUSTAINED" FORCE.

Calling.

A call is the highest and intensest form of "pure tone," and, when extended to a vast distance, becomes, it is universally known, similar to music, in the style of its utterance.

A high note is required, in order to reach to remote distance; and perfect purity of tone, is also indispensable, as a condition of the easy emission of the prodigious force of voice which calling demands, and which, in continuous effort, it must sustain. It is the "maximum," or highest degree, of vocal force. But if unaccompanied by perfectly pure quality of sound, it pains and injures the organs. Its true mode is a long-sustained and exceedingly powerful singing tone. In this form, its use in strengthening the organs, and giving firmness, compactness, and clearness to the voice, is very great.

The student, in practising the call, as a vocal exercise, must see to it that the utmost purity of tone is kept up; as the exercise will otherwise be injurious. The more attentive he is to sing his words, in such exercises, the more easy is the effort, and the more salutary the result. The style of utterance, in this exercise, is that of vigorous, sustained, and intense "effusion," but should never become abruptly "explo

sive."

The following example should be practised on the scale indicated, not on the stage, but in historical fact, as when the herald stood on the plain, at such a distance as to be out of bow-shot, and called out his message, so as to be fully audible and distinctly intelligible to the listeners on the distant city-wall.

The elementary tables of sounds, and words, should be repeatedly practised, in the form of calling, till the student can command a full, clear, ringing, and musical call, or any form of sound which admits this function of the voice.

Example.

THE HERALD'S CALL.- Shakspeare.

"Rejoice, you men of Angiers! ring your bells: King John, your king and England's, doth approach ;Open your gates, and give the victors way!"

OROTUND QUALITY."

"Pure tone 29 is properly the perfection of vocal sound executed by human organs, in the form of music or of speech, in unimpassioned expression. Purity, as a quality of voice in utterance, is, so to speak, the investing property of the sounds in which gentle and moderate emotions are conveyed to the ear. But this quality does not extend beyond the limits of solemnity, on the one hand, or of gaiety and humor, on the other. Its boldest effect is exhibited, as already mentioned, in the mechanical act of calling, which, although sometimes accompanied by intense emotion, is not, by any means, necessarily so attended. The call may be uttered, as among laborers at work, for a merely mechanical purpose of conven

ience.

In

But when we advance in the gradations of feeling, and come to the stage of impassioned utterance, and, more particularly, to that in which deep and forcible emotions are combined, mere purity of tone is not adequate to the effect which is to be produced on the ear. the utterance of contemplative repose, nothing beyond pure quality of voice is needed, to give expression to feeling so gentle in its mood. Energy would, in such circumstances, seem violence: it would disturb the quiet of the scene.

Not so when passion rouses or inspires the soul. The intense excitement of feeling then demands that volume and force should predominate in expression. Purity of tone must, indeed, even in such cases, be preserved, to constitute that utterance which, while it assumes an intense energy, still indicates, in the pure quality of the vocal sound, the delight which the soul feels in the consciousness of powerful action. But the properties of voice which, in these circumstances, predominate in the utterance, and fall most impressively on the ear, are volume and energy, combined with ample resonance.

We have a striking example of the species of voice under consideration, in the imagined rallying-shout of Satan to his fallen host, while they lie weltering on the infernal lake, when, in the colossal image of the poet, ❝he called so loud, that all the hollow deep of hell resounded:"

"Princes! potentates!"

"Awake! arise! or be forever fallen!"

The human voice, here superadding intense emotion to the mere physical act of shouting and calling, becomes, as it were, translated to a sphere of superhuman force and grandeur.

In the "orotund quality" of utterance, volume and purity of tone, to the greatest extent of the one, and the highest perfection of the other, are blended in one vast sphere of sound, expressive of the utmost depth, intensity, and sublimity of emotion, and attended by the fullest resonance of the pharynx and the chest, as well as the larynx.

The voice, in the above case, inspired, expanded, and impelled, by the huge conception of the poet's imagination, becomes gigantic in its utterance. The force of the mental associations, imparts the impulsive energy, and their conscious sublimity the " pure tone," of the highest joy. Blend these two properties, and the result is what Dr. Rush has so appropriately termed "orotund "1 utterance.

The quality of voice to which we now refer, is mentioned by Dr. Rush as the highest perfection of the cultivated utterance of the public speaker. It is also justly regarded by him as the natural language of the highest species of emotion. It characterizes the vivid utterance of children, in their tones of love, and joy, and ecstasy. It belongs to the audible expression of masculine courage, energy, delight, admiration, and to the deliberate language of vengeance, as distinguished from the aspirated and suffocated voice of anger and rage.

In the furious excitement of anger, however, which breathes a fiendish delight in the very consciousness of the destructive passion, the "orotund" will be found to return in the utterance, and predominate even in the scream or yell of the wildest frenzy of excitement.

The property of voice defined by the term "orotund," exists, also, in certain physical and mechanical relations of the corporeal organs. Thus, we hear it in the audible functions of yawning, coughing, and laughing; all of which, when forcibly performed, are attended with a sudden and powerful

1 From the Latin phrase "ore rotundo," used by the poet Horace, in allusion to the round and full utterance and flowing eloquence of the Greeks.

expansion of the organic parts, and a ringing fulness, roundness, and smoothness of sound.'

"Orotund" quality may, in one of its forms, (the shout,) be regarded as the maximum of " pure tone," united with the most powerful resonance of the pharynx. Like the pure tone, however, it admits of degrees; and we find it existing, according to the greater or less intensity of emotion, in the different forms of "effusive," 66 expulsive," and explosive," force. In other cases, it partakes of "aspiration," being rendered "impure," by violence of emotion and force of breath. We proceed to the exemplification of the first of the above gradations.

66

I. "C EFFUSIVE OROTUND."

This designation is applied to that species of utterance in which the voice is not sent forth from the organs by any obvious voluntary expulsion, but is rather suffered to effuse itself from the mouth into the surrounding air. It resembles the insensible and unconscious act of tranquil breathing, as contrasted with the effort of panting. But though perfectly gentle in its formation, and passing but little beyond the limits of merely "pure tone," it still obviously extends beyond that form of voice, and assumes a somewhat different character. "Pure tone," in its "effusive" form, is executed principally by the full expansion of the chest, a large inhalation, but a very gentle and limited expiration; whilst "effusive orotund" gives a very free egress to the breath, and, by its larger volume of sound, and greater emissive force, uses more breath, in the production of sound. "Effusive pure

tone" is obtained chiefly by skilful withholding of the breath, and using the larynx so gently and so skilfully, that every particle of air passing through it, is converted into sound. "Effusive orotund" demands a wider opening of the organs, and a freer and firmer use of them, so as to produce a bolder and rounder tone. It resembles, however, in its style, the "effusive" function of "pure tone," in its gentle and sustained swell of utterance, as contrasted with the "expulsive" and "explosive" forms of the "orotund."

1 For a more minute description of "orotund " quality, we refer to the work of Dr. Rush.

The modes of feeling or emotion which are expressed by "effusive orotund voice," are pathos,-when mingled with grandeur and sublimity,—and solemnity and reverence, when expressed in similar circumstances. - Pathos, divested of grandeur, subsides into “ pure tone," merely. The same result takes place in the utterance of solemnity, if unaccompanied by sublimity. But reverence, always implying grandeur or elevation in its source, is uniformly uttered by the "orotund" voice, though from the tranquillity, and the partial awe, with which it is attended, its force does not go beyond the "effusive" form,- as may be observed in the appropriate tone of adoration, uttered in the exercise of devotion.

Analysis thus shows us the value of the "orotund," as imparting dignity of effect to utterance, even in its gentler moods. It teaches us, moreover, the inefficacy or the inappropriateness of all utterance which, in giving forth the language of noble and inspiring emotion, falls short of "orotund" quality, and reduces the style of voice to that of ordinary or common-place topics. Gray's Elegy, for example, if read without "orotund," becomes feeble and trite, in its style; Milton's Paradise Lost, if so read, becomes dry and flat; and the language of devotion, uttered in the same defective style, in prayer, or in psalms and hymns, becomes irreverent in its effect.

The mode of securing the advantages of "orotund " utterance, is, in the first place, to give up the whole soul to the feeling of what is read or spoken in the language of grave and sublime emotion. The mere superficial impression of a sentiment, is not adequate to the effects of genuine and inspiring expression. The reader or speaker must be so deeply imbued with the spirit of what he utters, that his heart overflows with it, and thus inspires and attunes his organs to the full vividness of expressive action. The ample and noble effect of “orotund” utterance, can never be acquired through the clearest apprehension of a sentiment by the understanding merely the heart must swell with the feeling; and the stream of emotion must gush over the whole man. Nor is it sufficient that the reader's feeling be commensurate with the mere personal impression of a sentiment: genuine expression demands such a surplus, as it were, of emotion that it is sufficient to overflow the reader's own being, and impel and carry on with it the sympathies of his audience. The reader must himself feel the inspiration of number enkindling his personal emotion, and elevating and expanding his being, for the full outpouring of expression.

But few readers seem fully to feel the difference between the quiet and passive state in which we sit and give up our imagination to be impressed by the language of an author, and the communicative and active energy requisite to stamp even such an impression on the minds of others. In the former case, we are but involuntary, or, at