178 VOCAL AND ENUNCIATIVE ORGANS.

worldly interests, and persists in the pursuit of mere worldly objects, will be disappointed at last.

:

In order that the voice may acquire strength, it should be frequently exercised. He who wishes to increase the power and volume of his voice, ought to practise reading aloud every day; and, if he has the opportunity, he ought by all means to practise in the open air, and with his face to the wind no place can be better suited to this purpose, than that which Demosthenes chose, namely the sea-shore. The advantages of practising in the open air are, that it insensibly induces the speaker to exert his voice more than he would do in a room, and that the fresh external air braces the muscles exercised in speaking, much more than would be done by that which is confined within a house. They who make the experiment, will be astonished at the power which their voices will acquire by this kind of practice, in a very short time.

When the voice is required to be forced for any great emergency, it may be advisable to take a raw egg, or a jelly, beat up with a wine-glassful of white wine and a little water. It may be added, that whatever tends to injure digestion or impair the general health, will also hurt the voice, such as irregular living, late hours, want of exercise, and inordinate feasting.

CHAPTER XIII.

INTONATION.

INTONATION may be defined, the adaptation of the general tone of the voice to the style and subject of what is delivered. Nature has adapted to every emotion of the mind a tone of voice peculiar to itself; so that he who should tell another that he was affected by a certain emotion, without at the same time adopting a suitable tone, would be laughed at, instead of being believed. This natural language of passion is so universal, that none can mistake it. No man, for instance, would make love in a harsh voice, or be angry in a soft one. It is therefore one of the highest graces of elocution, to imitate this language of the passions-in other words, so to adapt the tone of the voice to the, style and matter of the composition, that the correspondent emotions may be raised in the breasts of the hearers-that they may be roused into indignation, or melted into pity; that they may be transported with joy, softened into penitence, or warmed and elevated with devotion.

In order to acquire this art, no particular rules can be laid down. The only direction which can

be given is, that the speaker should enter fully into the spirit of his author, and endeavour to assume, for the time, the emotions by which what he delivers is characterized. This will not, perhaps, be found a very easy task; for some persons possess but little natural power of impassioning themselves, upon reading or reciting a pathetic passage. Yet much may be done by assiduous study. Nature is not so intractable as some would suppose. If the voice can be brought in any degree to assume the tones appropriate to the expression of any passion, the speaker will be wrought upon by the sound which he produces; and, though active at the beginning, will at length become passive, by the effect of his own voice upon himself. Hence it is, that though we frequently begin to read or speak without feeling any of the passion which we wish to express, we often end in full possession of it.

Every reader of taste and judgment will easily determine what is the peculiar style or tone of voice adapted to what he reads. He will be sensible that the style of Johnson-or of Sterne, of Milton or of Moore, requires an intonation which would be unsuitable to any of the others. He will be sensible that the tone which is suited to the first of these authors is serious and didactic; that of the second, terse, pointed, and touching; that of third, grand and sustained; and that of the fourth, light and playful, and not unfrequently mournful and plaintive. These tones,

therefore, he will endeavour to assume, by entering as much as possible into the sentiments of his author; and he will further assist his intonation by adopting an appropriate rate of utterance, for extraordinary vehemence generally accelerates the utterance, though in hatred and malice it will often be slow and drawling.*

In all sacred reading there should be a tone of seriousness; but this must be considerably modified in the different parts of divine service. In prayer the tone should be deep, grave, and solemn; the voice should be pitched a little below the middle notes; the rate of reading slow, and the inflections but slightly marked.† In the reading of the Scriptures, there should be an appropriate variety of tone: in the Prophecies of the Old Testament, it should imitate the grandeur and sublimity of those inspired productions, and be full, lofty, and sustained; in the historical parts it should be plain and easy, and in somewhat quicker time; in the didactic parts distinct and impressive; in the Epistles earnest and affectionate.

The following passage from Fordyce's Art of Preaching, describes the tones which are proper for a discourse from the pulpit, and furnishes

Some of the best exercises for acquiring variety of tone, are Collins's Ode on the Passions, and Dryden's for St. Cecilia's Day, both of which will be found, set to the music of speech, in Chapman's Grammar.

+ Chapman's Grammar, p. 150.

some good hints for the delivery of other didactic and oratorical compositions:

"The powers of this engine I now speak of (namely, the voice), are no less various than wonderful. He that is master of it, will take care to give to every one of them its due operation, as occasion shall require. When, for instance, he would express or recommend the mild and amiable feelings of devotion or humility, his voice will dissolve into the most gentle, flowing, and insinuating sounds. When he would testify or inspire an indignation at vice, it will roughen into harsher and bolder tones. When he talks of the most venerable and stupendous objects of religion, or another world, he will compose it into a slow, majestic, solemn pronunciation. When he would warmly assert the interests of either, he will employ the most lively, pathetic, and invigorated accents. When he would describe or promote the meltings of repentance, or represent his grief for the follies and misery of mankind, he will melt into tender, plaintive, mournful measures. When his subject, on the other hand, leads to sentiments of joy or approbation, his notes will be soft and sweet, diffused and open.-In the exordium, or introductory part, his pronunciation will generally be sober, tranquil, and respectful, not only because there is commonly no passion in the composition of that part, but likewise in order both to gain his hearers, and husband his voice. It will be a little more animated, when