b. No more for them the blazing hearth shall burn,-Or busy housewife ply her evening care,No children run to lisp their sire's return,

Or climb his knee-the envied kiss to share.

c. How are the mighty fallen! — and, - regardless as we are of common death-shall not the fall of the mighty affect us ?-A short time since-and he who is the occasion of our sorrows-was the ornament of his country. He stood on an eminence— and glory covered him. From that eminence he has fallen-suddenly, forever fallen.-His intercourse with the living world is now ended—and those who would hereafter find him,-must seek him in the grave.

d. (Repeat rapidly.) You speak like a boy,like a boy,-who thinks the gnarled oak can be twisted as easily as the young sapling.-Can I forget— that I have been branded as an outlaw,-stigmatized as a traitor, a price set on my head, as if I had been. a wolf, my family treated as the dam and cubs of the hill-fox,--whom all may torment, vilify, degrade and insult? They shall hear of my vengeance, that would scorn to listen to the story of my wrongs.-The miserable highland drover, bankrupt, barefoot, stripped of all, hunted down,-because the avarice of others grasped at more than that poor all could pay,-shall burst upon them with an awful change.

Practice over again and again, until you can repeat each example with ease and smoothness. Then practice again and make the number of pauses less by onehalf, and so continue until you can repeat each example with a single breath.

In speaking, breath should be taken frequently and the lungs should at no time be too fully charged with air, as it is unnatural, inconvenient, and likely to cause huskiness.

Remember that cold air expands when warmed, and the lungs can be acted upon much better, if only moderately filled. Observe your breathing in conversation, and you will see it accords with the plan stated.

Remember, too, that loudness does not depend upon the amount of air, but upon the proper use of air. He is not the best cornetist or flutist who blows the hardest or uses the most breath, neither is he the best speaker who blows the hardest. Develop the lungs, certainly; but use only a moderate supply of air when speaking. These exercises I have given are for development. Breathe as I have shown and you will be able to fill the lungs by a single, quick movement of the diaphragm,--a movement requiring less time than the utterance of a single word. Thus you will breathe naturally, freely, easily, and never be out of breath.

DIRECTION OF TONE AT THE LIPS.

POSITIONS OF JAW, TEETH, LIPS, TONGUE AND THROAT

Much depends upon the manner in which the tones pass the Teeth and Lips. The teeth are hard and firm and if the sound strikes them it will have a clear, metallic ring; but, if the lips are closed so as to cover the teeth, the sound will be dull, muffled, and the consonants indistinct. Also, if the sound strike the upper teeth only, the tone will be nasal and the consonants .confused.

Observe three positions of Lips.

Cut 5.

Cut 6.

1. Lateral, as in Cut 5; the lips slightly parted, as if listening, or smiling, showing the tips of upper and lower teeth.

2. More fully parted, showing still the tips of the teeth, but not more. than the tips. Cut 6.

3. The Lips perfectly rounded, forced well forward, so as to hollow the cheeks and the teeth are well hidden from view. Cut 7.

A few experiments will convince the student of the importance of observing the above positions. But few persons direct the sound from the throat well forward to the teeth, and on this account the tones are husky and consonants obscured.

When the lips are rounded as in Cut 7, the sound must still be well directed forward. When this is done, and the diaphragm is kept firm, every word and every letter of every word, will be distinctly heard, the light whisper as well as the fullest tone. Remember, that indistinctness more generally attends loud speaking than low. For when loud, the column of sound as it leaves the throat frequently strikes the back part of the roof of the mouth, and must be reflected forward to the teeth and lips. While a properly formed tone should be directed from the throat well forward.

cut 7.

Thus, in Cut 8, the sound if directed to point at end of line K, and deflected from that point, will expand in every direction, and will be confused with the following syllables. But if the flow of sound be directed forward to the point at end of line B, all the vocal sounds will be clear and vibratory,

and the consonant sounds much more distinct.

POSITION OF THE JAW.

While producing a vocal sound, the jaw should be held firm, though not rigid or stiff. Thus the sound will be clear, vibrant, and cach element clear cut. In this way, also, you will avoid the blurring and slurring of vocal sounds, so frequently and painfully noticeable in the utterance of mediocre elocutionists. For this fault, elocution has received much censure, and justly so. This frequent drawling out of age into a-eege and time into ti-eeme with the spasmodic gyrations of lips and jaw, is nowhere heard, except as one of the evils of misdirected elocutionary exertion. It is natural to no one, and has never yet been heard from the lips of any eloquent lecturer, or actor. There is an after sound to these vowels, but it is to be made as little noticeable as possible, not drawn out until it becomes ludicrous.

This sound is best made by a slight movement at the base of the tongue, and not by an action of the entire jaw. It must be blent softly in utterance and this is best done by not moving the jaw. Now, if you still doubt this fact, try it both ways. I have spoken of it at length, because so many books and teachers wax loud-if not eloquent-in praise of that mode which is opposed to nature. Some even say these sounds cannot be formed by holding the jaw firm. Try it! All vocal sounds of our language can be made without the slightest movement of the jaw. For some sounds, the teeth are more widely separated, but the jaw should be firm while prolonging the sound. The firmer the jaw, the clearer the tone and the more distinct the articulation.

EXERCISES

FOR

DIRECTION AND VIBRATION OF TONE.

Then read from the treasured volume

The Poem of thy choice,

And lend to the rhyme of the poet

The beauty of thy voice;

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

-H. W. LONGFELLOW.

Cut 13.