ORATORY. 



ORATORY. 



ha* pause after it Let these pause* be filled up with the light 

 syllable and ; and then the two line*, namely : 



and 



One tad two and thrre and four tad flr* and 

 On, ' to, thrtt, four, fin. 



will be of exactly the lame length ai to time in muiic, or rhythm in 

 peach, the syllable and occupying no more time than what necessarily 

 intervene* between the syllables under organic emphasis. 



Thii alternate action and reaction of the organ* of speech was called 

 by the Greeks by the aignificant terms Thau and Artit ; the former 

 denoting the telling dor* of a syllable, as the setting down of the foot 

 in walking ; the latter denoting the rauin'j of it up, like the lifting of 

 the foot from the ground ; the former producing the heavy syllables, 

 the latter the light ones. 



The weight of syllables, or in other words, the stress with which 

 they are enunciated, must be carefully distinguished from their 

 quantity, since the weight or stress with which the syllable is 

 uttered doe* not always correspond to the relative time .which the 

 utterance requires. Thus in the word point*, the syllable pen is the 

 heavier, but it is not longer than the syllable tin. So also in the word 

 imrorrf, there is an equality of time in the two syllables, but not of 

 weight. In banitfi, banner, battler, the first syllable is heavy but short ; 

 in paptr, taper, tn/>our, it is both heavy and long; and the same 

 observation applies to nutery, middle, mittrea, compared with niter, 

 Minor, milrr. 



Those emphatical divisions into which, from the very nature of the 

 organs, all speech naturally falls, are called by writers on this subject 

 cadence*.' Ever}- full ipoke* cadence consists of a heavy syllable, and 

 of one or more light ones, but pauses may be substituted to make up the 

 time which any of these syllables would occupy. Measure, or metre, 

 therefore in speech naturally distributes itself into two kinds : common 

 measure, which, according to Mr. Steele, is the allotment of two 

 crotchets or their equivalents to each cadence ; and triple measure, 

 which is the allotment of three crotchets or their equivalents to each 

 cadence ; emphasis however will sometimes prolong the duration of a 

 cadence beyond the allotted time, just as an ad libitum is allowed in 

 solos in music. Without entering further into minute distinctions or 

 exceptions, the following may serve as specimens of each kind. This 

 mark indicates a short pause, this || a longer, and this r .. a still longer 

 one: 



Coxuox 



" So } I spoke the | guardian | 6 of the | Trojan state, | 

 IThrn | nuh'd im- | petuous } | through the | Scu-an | gate ; | 

 |llim | Paris | followed | } to the | dire a. I larms : j 

 Both } | breathing | slaughter, } | both re- ] solv'd in | arms." | 



Pope's Iliad, b. vii. 



" Stnlftht mine | eye } hath | caught new | pleasures, | 

 Whilst the | landscape | round } it | measures, | 

 Russet | lawns } and | fallows | grey, | 

 Where the j nibbling | flocks } do [ stray ; | 

 Mountains { | on whose | barren | breast 

 The | labouring J clouds } do | often | rest." | 



TKITLX MIISCBE. 

 " |}At the | close of the | day } when the | hamlet is | still,} 



And | mortals } the | sweets of for- | getfulness | prove ; || | 

 flWhcn | nought but the | torrent} is | heard on the | hill,} 

 And I nought but the | nightingale's | song } in the | grove." || | 



If this system of measuring verse were adopted, the prosody not 

 only of our own but of the learned languages would be greatly 

 simplified. The list of feet which is usually given at the beginning of 

 the ' Gradus ad Parnassum,' would be reduced to four or five ; we 

 should hear of no such unnatural foot as an iamb or an anapaest, and 

 the syllable at the beginning of an iambic line would either of itself 

 form a cadence, or would be the close of a cadence, of which a pause 

 or the last syllable of the preceding line would form the commence- 

 ment Those lines of Anacreon would then be reduced to the trochaic 

 , thus : 



II9.X- 



' .8.1 



' TOf 8< I 



-Iw-l 



From the above examples it is clear that there is a regular rhythmus 

 in poetry ; and it cannot be necessary to insist on this being strictly 

 attended to, if we would read verse in an agreeable and expressive 

 manner. Prose also has its rhythmus, for the- alternate action and 

 reaction of the organs of speech necessarily proceeds, whether what is 

 spoken be prose or verse ; and the only difference (so far as sound is 

 concerned) between these two species of composition is, that verse 

 consults of a regular succession of similar cadence*, or of a limited 

 variety of cadences, divided by grammatical pauses and emphasis 

 into proportional clauses, so as to present sensible responses to the 

 ear at regular proportioned distances; prose, on the other hand, is 



More properly rAyrAmiVnl radrnm, to distinguish them from the cadences 

 of mtlodf. Mr. Cull would prefer the term mraiurn. 



composed of all sorts of cadences, arranged without attention to obvious 

 rule, and divided into clauses which have no obviously ascertained 

 proportion, and present no responses to the ear at any legitimate or 

 determined intervals. 



There is nothing which contributes more to the rhythmical flow of 

 prose than giving a light sound to monosyllables. If this be dune, 

 they then form the latter part of cadences, of which either pauses, or 

 emphatical monosyllables, or the emphasised syllables of longer words 

 form the beginning; but if they be pronounced heavy it is then 

 necessary that they should themselves form the beginning of new 

 cadences, which is the occasion of many pauses being introduced, and 

 of a heavy and halting character being communicated to the piece. 

 Thus the clause " Let not your | heart be | troubled," I will be rhyth- 

 mical if your be thus made a light syllable ; but the effect will be very 

 different if it be read thus : "Let not | your 8 | heart be | troubled." | 



Of the advantage of cadences in triple measure we have a beautiful 

 illustration in the first verse of the 186th Psalm : 



|| " O | give || | thanks unto the | Lord ; || | } for he Is good, || | || for his | 

 mercy en- | dureth for | ever." || | 



On the other hand, a succession of heavy syllables, with a pause 

 intervening, is one of the most expressive forms of emphasis both in 

 prose and verse. Thus the following line from Milton would lose all 

 its force, if read so as to form only the usual number of six cadence* 

 emphasis prolongs it to eight, thus : 



" Rocks,) | eaves,} | lakes,} | tens,|| | bogs,|| | dens and | shades of | denth."|| | 



Independently of its agreeable effect upon the ear, and its power as 

 an element of expression, there can be no doubt that, as rhythm arises 

 from the very manner in which speech is produced by the organs, he 

 who speaks agreeably to its laws will speak easily to himself. The 

 practice of reading or speaking aloud, with a due attention to the 

 rhythmus, may even be recommended as a means of improving the 

 health, since it brings into regular and natural action the muscles of 

 the face, the throat, and the chest; and no attempt completely and 

 permanently to remove impediments of speech can be successful 

 which is not based on the principle here developed. 



(A succinct account of rhythm will be found in Wood's Grammar 

 of Elocution, ch. iv. and v. ; and the subject is treated much more at 

 length in Steele's Protodia Kationalit; in Thelwall's J/liistraliuns of 

 Eiiiilisli Rliythmiu ; in Roe's Principle* of Rhythm ; and in Chapman's 

 Mutic, Melody, and Rhythmtuofthe Englith Laivjiutge, 8vo, Edinburgh, 

 1819 ; as well as in his Rhythmical Orammar, 12mo, 1821.) 



In order to read and speak well, it is necessary to have all the vocal 

 elements under complete command, so that they may be duly applied 

 whenever they are required for the vivid and elegant delineation of the 

 sense and sentiment of discourse. The student therefore should first 

 practise on the thirty-five alphabetic elements, in order to ensure a 

 true and easy execution of their unmixed sounds. This will be of 

 more use than pronouncing words in which they occur; for \\ln-n 

 pronounced singly, the elements will receive a concentration of the 

 organic effort, which will give them a clearness of sound and a definite 

 outline, if we may so speak, at their extremes, making a fine prepara- 

 tion for their distinct and forcible pronunciation in the compounds of 

 speech. He should then take one or more of the tonic elements, and 

 carry it through all the degrees of the diatonic and concrete 

 both in an upward and a downward direction, and through the principal 

 forms of the wave. He should next take some one familiar sentence, 

 and practise upon it with every variety of intonation of which it will 

 admit. He should afterwards run through the phrases of melody, and 

 the forms of the cadence ; and lastly he should recite, with :ill the force 

 that he can command, some passage which requires great exertion of 

 the voice. If he would acquire power and volume of utterance, he 

 must practise in the open air, with his face to the wind, his body 

 perfectly erect, his chest expanded, his tongue retracted and depressed, 

 and the cavity of his mouth as much as possible enlarged ; and it is 

 almost unnecessary to add that anything which improves the general 

 tone of the health will proportionably affect the voice. If to this 

 elementary practice the student add a careful and discriminating 

 analysis of some of the best pieces which our language contains, both 

 in prose and verse, and if he strenuously endeavour to apply to them 

 all the scientific principles which he has learned, there can be no 

 doubt that he will acquire a manner of delivery, which will do ample 

 justice to any subject on which he may be called to exercise his vocal 

 powers. 



Intimately connected with the subject of delivery is that of Action. 

 Oratorical action has been defined to be the just and elegant adapta- 

 tion of every part of the body to the nature and import of the subject 

 on which we are speaking. As every man who feels his subject will 

 necessarily have some action, it is of consequence that it should be 

 graceful and significant The first point to be attained is to avoid 

 awkward habits, such as resting the chief weight of the body first on 

 one foot and then on the other, swinging to and fro, jerking forward 

 the upper part of the body on every emphatic word, keeping the elbow* 

 pinioned to the sides, and sawing the air with one hand with one' 

 unvaried and ungraceful motion. As for the attainment of excel- 

 lences, more specific rules must be sought for in professed treatises on 

 the subject, but the following general directions will be found to 



