RIGHT AGAINST MIGHT.

193

to a sudden halt by what seemed a wall of steel. In vain did they strive to break through that forest of lances presented by the foe. Their best and bravest were flung back, bleeding, and almost in despair. Every moment their peril was increasing. The wings of the Austrian army gradually advanced, so as to form a part of a circle, which, completed, would place the heroic Swiss all within the very jaws of death.

7. Who shall stop the approaching ruin? Just as all seemed lost, Arnold Winkelried (ever honored be the name !), a native of Unterwalden, cried out, “I'll open a way for you! Take care of my wife and children! Switzerland forever! Make way for liberty!" Then, rushing upon the enemy, and "gathering, with a wide embrace, into his single heart, a sheaf of fatal Austrian spears," he made an opening, through which, with sword and ax, poured the impetuous Swiss. Nothing could withstand their fury. Leopold and his nobles were routed with terrific slaughter. Let James Montgomery describe the act of the martyr of liberty:

"Make way for liberty!" he cried;
Then ran, with arms extended wide,
As if his dearest friend to clasp;
Ten spears he swept within his grasp.
"Make way for liberty!" he cried;
Their keen points crossed from side to side;
He bowed amongst them like a tree,
And thus made way for liberty.

Swift to the breach his comrades fly,-
"Make way for liberty!" they cry,
And through the Austrian phalanx dart,
As rushed the spears through Arnold's heart!
While, instantaneous as his fall,

Rout, ruin, panic, seized them all.
An earthquake could not overthrow
A city with a surer blow.

Thus Switzerland again was free;
Thus Death made way for liberty!

194

NOTHING TO WEAR.

LXXVIII. - NOTHING TO WEAR.

WRITHE (rithe), v. i., to twist one's | TIN'SEL, n., a kind of shining cloth;

self violently, as if in pain. RICK'ET-Y, a., affected with rickets;

weak; imperfect.

TRAPPINGS, n. pl., ornaments.

any thing showy.

PRE-TENSE or PRE-TENCE', n., a false show or claim.

DIS-EN-CHANT', v. t., to free from spells.

Avoid saying spere for sphere (sfere); cuss for curse; spile for spoil; relum for realm. In such words as helm, elm, chasm, &c., some speakers have a bad habit of introducing a decided vowel sound before the m.

O! LADIES, dear ladies, the next sunny day

Please trundle your hoops just out of Broadway,
From its whirl and its bustle, its fashion and pride,
And the temples of Trade which tower on each side,
To the alleys and lanes, where Misfortune and Guilt
Their children have gathered, their city have built;
Where Hunger and Vice, like twin beasts of prey,

Have hunted their victims to gloom and despair.
Raise the rich, dainty dress, and the fine broidered skirt,
Pick your delicate way through the dampness and dirt;

Grope through the dark dens, climb the rickety stair To the garret, where wretches, the young and the old, Half-starved, and half-naked, lie crouched from the cold!

See those skeleton limbs, those frost-bitten feet,
All bleeding and bruised by the stones of the street;
Hear the sharp cry of childhood, the deep groans that swell
From the poor dying creature who writhes on the floor
Hear the curses that sound like Hope's dying farewell,

As you sicken and shudder and fly from the door;
Then home to your wardrobes, and say, if you dare,—
Spoiled children of Fashion,-you've nothing to wear

And, O! if perchance there should be a sphere
Where all is made right which so puzzles us here;
Where the glare, and the glitter, and tinsel of Time
Fade and die in the light of that region sublime;
Where the soul, disenchanted of flesh and of sense,
Unscreened by its trappings, and shows, and pretense,

SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION.

195

Must be clothed, for the life and the service above,
With purity, truth, faith, meekness, and love;
O, daughters of Earth! foolish virgins, beware!
Lest in that upper realm you have nothing to wear!
W. A. BUTLER.

LXXIX. SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION.
PART II.*

VOL'U-BLE, a., fluent in words.
YEO'MAN (yo'man), n., a common man
of the first class.
CHOL'ER-IC (kol-), a., irascible.
RAN'SOM, v. t., to redeem from captiv-
ity or punishment.

RE-SPECTIVE, a., belonging to each;
having respect to.

IN-GRATE' or IN'GRATE, a., unthankful.
CANK'ERED, pp., corrupted.

RE-TAL'I-ATE, v., to return like for
like; to requite.

Pronounce Cicero, Sis'e-ro. Do not say srill for shrill; helum for helm.

Student. How shall we know what words we ought to make emphatic, in reading aloud?

Professor. The only sure rule is this: Acquaint yourself fully with the meaning and spirit of what you have to utter, and then you will bestow your emphasis in a manner the best fitted to bring out that meaning and spirit.

Stu. I readily comprehend the importance of that rule. If I ask you for the loan of your pencil, and you hand me your penknife, and I say, "No, it is your pencil I want," it is easy to see that I should lay the principal stress on the word pencil.

Pro. Even so in reading; if you understand the language, you will be likely to lay the right stress upon the right words.

Stu. I have been reading what Walker says on the modulation of the voice.

-Pro. Walker is good authority. What does he say? How does he define the word?

For Part I. see page 91.

Stu. He says that modulation in speaking that agreeable variety of changes through w voice may be made to pass. The Latin word simply means to measure off properly; to reg

Pro. Yes, the voice is capable of assum keys, or pitches, the high, the middle, and We use the high pitch in calling to a person tance; the middle, in ordinary conversation, we are now having; the low, when we wish hear except the person to whom we speak we would say something solemn or impress audience.

Stu. Walker cautions us, however, that t ence between loud and high, and low and s ought to be well understood. We can spea or softer, and still continue the same pitch but we can not speak higher or lower withou the key.

Pro. Let it be borne also in mind that it who speaks the loudest who can be heard the Very loud speakers are seldom heard to a Burke's voice is said to have been a sort of which marred the effect of what he uttere Chat'ham's lowest whisper was distinctly hear middle tones were sweet, rich, and beautifull

Stu. I have seen it stated that musical not heard to a much greater distance than me however loud.

Pro. We will devote the rest of this cor to the consideration of EXERCISES IN HIGH PI ing our illustrations from Shakspeare.

though uncommon in level speaking or r appropriate to the delivery of passages wh excitement, anger, or indignation, is to be o

SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION.

"Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen!
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head:
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood;
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves.

A thousand hearts are great within my bosom :
Advance our standards, set upon our foes!
Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!
Upon them! Victory sits on our helms.”

197

Stu. Do you remember the speech which Romeo atters, on encountering Tyb'alt, who has just slain Romeo's friend, Mercutio?

Pro. Yes; it should be uttered in a high, but not in a very loud, key. Intense passion may sometimes be better expressed by suppressed tones than by a loud, voluble enunciation.

Stu. That agrees with what Walker says: "The tones which mark the passions and emotions of the speaker are entirely independent of the modulation of the voice, though often confounded with it; for modu lation relates only to speaking either loudly or softly, in a high or a low key; while the tones of the passions or emotions mean only that quality of sound that indicates the feelings of the speaker, without any reference to the pitch or loudness of his voice." But how are we to acquire that peculiar quality of sound that indi cates the passions we wish to express?

Pro. The answer is easy: by feeling the passion which expresses itself by that peculiar quality of sound.

Stu. But how are we to acquire a feeling of the passion?

Pro. The advice of Cicero is this: "Represent to your imagination, in the most lively manner possible, all the most striking circumstances of the transaction you describe, or of the passion you wish to feel." What are the circumstances in Romeo's case?