

243 



>ne is free from (1) the heavy and hollow note of 



"guttural," choked, stifled, or hard iioand of 



:i!i'l compressed throat ; (.'!) the hoarse, husky, 



: " uiul grating Ht;. !-, winch comes from too 



and too wide opening of the throat; 



<> nasal twang, which is caused by forcing the breath 



nasal passage, and, at the same time, partially 



5) tho wiry, or false ring of the voi--.-, which unites 



the guttural and the nasal tones; (6) the affected mi:i-iu-/ 



f tlu- mouth, which is caused by not allowing tho duo 



: 1 !<:! th to escape through the nose. The natural, 



i, and pure tone of the voice, as exhibited in tho vivid 



itunil to healthy childhood, to good vocal music, or 



1 leaking, avoids every effect arising from 



uii undue preponderance, or excess, in the action of the muscles 

 chest, of tho throat, or of any other organ, and, at the 

 game time, secures all tho good qualities resulting from the just 

 11-proportioncd exercise of each. A true and smooth 

 - resonance from the chest, firmness from the 

 . : , and clearness from the head and mouth. 

 Without these qualities, it is impossible to give right effect 

 to the beauty and grandeur of noble sentiments, whether ex- 

 pressed in prose or in verse. 



ihood and youth are tho favourable seasons for acquiring 

 mid fixing, in permanent possession, tho good qualities of 

 agreeable and effective utterance. Tho self-taught cannot exert 

 too much vigilance, nor toko too much pains, to avoid the 

 encroachments of faulty habit in this important requisite to a 



elocution. 



The subjoined exercise should be frequently and attentively 

 practised, with a view to avoid every sound which mars the 

 purity of the tone, or hinders a perfect smoothness of voice. 



Exercise in Smoothness and " Purity " of Voice. 

 No sootier had the Almighty ceased, but all 

 The multitude of angels, with a shout, 

 Loud as from numbers without number, sweet, 

 As from blest voices uttering joy; heaveu rung 

 With jubilee, and loud hosauuas filled 

 The eternal regions ; lowly reverent, 

 Towards either throne they bow ; and to the ground, 

 With solemn adoration, down they cost 

 Their crowas, inwove with amaranth and gold. 

 Then crowned again, their golden harps they took, 

 Harps ever tuned, that, glittering by their side, 

 Like quivers hung, and with preamble sweet 

 Of charming symphony they introduce 

 Their sacred song, and waken raptures high. 



The various passions and emotions of the soul are, to a great 

 extent, indicated by tho "quality" of the voice. Thus, the 

 malignant and all excessive emotions, as, anger, hatred, revenge, 

 Jen,-, and horror, are remarkable for "guttural quality," and 

 strong "aspiration," or " expiration," accompanying the vocal 

 sound, and forming "impure" tone; substituting a "harsh," 

 husky, aspirated utterance, for the " ototnnd," or the " pure " 

 tone ; while pathos, serenity, love, joy, courage, take a soft and 

 smooth " oral," or head tone, perfectly pure, or swelling into 

 " orotund." Awe, solemnity, reverence, and melancholy, take a 

 deep " pectoral " murmur ; the voice resounding, as it were, in 

 tho cavity of the chest, but still keeping perfectly " pure " in 

 tono, or expanding into full "orotund." 



Tho young student cannot be too deeply impressed with the 

 importance of cultivating early a pure and smooth utterance. 

 The excessively deep " pectoral " tone sounds hollow and sepul- 

 chral ; the " guttural " tone is coarse, and harsh, and grating to 

 the ear ; the " nasal " tone is ludicrous ; and the combination 

 of " guttural " and " nasal " tone is repulsive and extremely 

 disagreeable. Some speakers, through excessive negligence, 

 allow themselves to combine the " pectoral," " guttural," and 

 " nasal " tones in one sound, for which the word grunt is the 

 only approximate designation that can be found. Affectation 

 or false taste, on tho other hand, induces some speakers to 

 assume an extra fine, or double-distilled, " oral " tone, which 

 minces every word in tho month, as if the breast had no part to 

 perform in human utterance. 



The tones of serious, serene, cheerful, and kindly feeling, are 

 nature's genuine standard of agreeable voice, as is evinced in 

 the utterance of healthy and happy childhood. But prevalent 

 neglect permits these to bo lost in the habitual tones of boys 



and girls, man and women. Faithful advisers may b of much 

 service to young KtudenU in thin particular. 



/ or Pliancy of Vote* 



signifies that power of easy and iiwtant adaptation, by 

 it take* on the Appropriate utterance of every emotion 

 occurs in the reading or speaking of a piece characterised bj 

 varied feeling or intense passion. 



To acquire this invaluable property of voice, the moet useful 

 course of practice i the repeated reading or reciting of psssacosj 

 marked by striking contracts of tone, at load or soft, hi^h 01 

 low, fast or tdow. 



The following exercises should be repeated till the student 

 can give them in succession, with perfect adaptation of voice 

 in each case, and with instantaneous precision of effect. 



i*e$for Vertatility or Pliancy of Voice. 



Very Loud. 

 And dar'rt thou, then, 

 To beard the lion in his den, 



The Douglas in hi* hall ? 

 And hop'st tbou hence unscathed to go ? 

 No ! by St. Bride of Bothwell, no !- 

 Up, drawbridge, groom ! What ! warder, ho ! 

 Let the poitcullis fall ! 



Very Soft. 



I've seen the moon climb the mountain'* brow, 

 . I've watched the znirts o'er the river stealing, 

 But ne'er did I feel in my breast till now, 

 So deep, BO calm, and BO holy a feeling : 

 'Tis soft as the thrill which memory throws 

 Athwart the soul in the hour of repose. 



Very Low. 



I had a dream, which was not all a dream, 

 The bright sun was extinguished ; and tlm stan 

 Did wander darkling in the eternal space, 

 Rayless, and pathless ; and the icy earth 

 Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air. 



Very High. 



I awoke : where was I ? Do I see 

 A human face look down on me ? 

 And doth a roof above me close ? 

 Do these limbs on a couch repose ? 

 Is this a chamber where I lie ? 

 And is it mortal, yon bright eye, 

 That watches me with gentle glance ? 



Very Slow. 



Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the 

 heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, bat Tbou 

 shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old, like a garment; it a 

 vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed : but Thou 

 art the same ; and Thy yean shall have no end. 



Very Quick. 



I am the Eider of the wind, 

 The Stirrer of the storm ! 

 The hurricane I left behind 



Is yet with lightning warm ; 

 To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea 

 I swept upon the blast. 



4. True Pitch of Voice. 



The proper pitch of the voice, when no peculiar emotion 

 demands high or low notes, is for the purposes of ordinary 

 reading or speaking a little below the habitual note of con- 

 versation, for the person who reads or speaks. Public discourse, 

 being usually on graver subjects and occasions than mere private 

 communication, naturally and properly adopts this leveL 



But, through mistake or inadvertency, we sometimes hear 

 persons read and speak on too low a key for the easy and 

 expressive use of the voice, and sometimes, on the other hand, 

 on a key too high for convenient or agreeable utterance. 



The following sentences should be repeated till the note on 

 which they are pitched is distinctly recognised, and perfectly 

 remembered, so as to become a key to all similar passages. 



Exercise on Middle Pitch. 



In every period of life, the acquisition of knowledge is one of the 

 moet pleasing employments of the human mind. But in youth, there 

 are circumstances which make it productive of higher enjoyment. It 

 is then that everything has the charm of novelty ; that curiosity ana 

 fancy are awake, and that the heart swells with the anticipations of 

 future eminence and utility. 



Contrast this pitch with that of the pieces before quoted, as 

 examples of " hijh " and " low." 



