compared, as mine has, the motives, which in a war like this, should animate their minds and ours. They, by a strong frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule; we, for our country, our altars, and our homes. They follow an adventurer whom they fear, and serve, a power which they hate; we serve a Monarch whom we love, a God whom we adore." SHERIDAN-Pizarro.

The ECHO, as it is termed, or repetition of a word or thought, requires the echoing word to be pronounced with a strong rising inflection; thus,

"And feel I death, no joy from thought of thee?

Death, the great counsellor whom man inspires

With every nobler thought and fairer deed;

Death, the deliverer, who rescues man!

Death, the rewarder, who the rescued crowns!

YOUNG

The proper delivery of language so much depends on taste and judgment, that it it impossible to lay down rules always applicable: a strict attention to the best speakers will do more to form the elocutionist than any written directions, however excellent. It has been stated, as a general rule, that "wherever the hand and eye must necessarily be elevated in action, the voice should take the rising inflection, in accordance with them, and the reverse. In other words: Whenever any thing good, great, exalted, elevated, pleasing, amiable, exhilarating, &c. as, beauty, virtue, victory, power, wisdom, happiness, goodness, heaven, are mentioned, the RISING inflection should be used, and when the contraries, the FALLING inflection."*

An union of the two inflections on the same syllable is sometimes required. This is called a CIRCUMFLEX.

When the syllable begins with the falling, and ends with the rising inflection, it is said to have a rising circumflex, which is marked thus,~, but when the syllable begins with the rising, and ends with the falling inflection, it is said to have a falling circumflex.

The circumflexes are often used in expressions of irony, reproach, and contempt. Both of the circumflexes are exemplified in the following extract:

* Newton's Studies on the Science and Practice of Public Speaking, &c.

"'Tis true, this god did shake;
His coward lips did from their colour fly,
And that same eye, whose bend does awe the world,
Did lose its lustre : I did hear him groan;

Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans
Mark him, and write his speeches in their books,
Alas! it cried-Give me some drink, Titinius-
Like a sick girl."

OF ACCENT.

SHAKSPEARE.

By Accent is generally understood a particular stress on a certain syllable, or syllables, of every word of more than one syllable. As it regards single words, the accent is acquired by the ear from the earliest infancy; but in sentences the judgment must be called into exercise, that the stress may be so laid as to convey the sense intended in its proper force.

The accent is sometimes shifted from one syllable to another to mark a contrast of meaning, thus,

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," 1 Cor. xv. 53.

In the above example, the accent is shifted from its natural place, the third syllable of incorruption and immortality to the first syllable.

Also, in the following line in Douglas:

"His constant care was to increase his store;"

the accent is laid on the second syllable of the word increase, whilst in the following, "He must increase but I must decrease," the accent is laid on the first syllable.

But there is an accent which principally relates to the reading of verse, and which may be called the accent of Rhythm. In accordance with the opinion of an eminent Elocutionist, every heroic verse of ten syllables requires an accent, either on the sixth syllable, or else on the fourth and eighth ; as also on the tenth syllable, which latter can never be removed without reducing the line to prose, thus,

"An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave,
Legions of angels can't confine me there."

YOUNG.

* An accent of this character is often observable in Orations; particularly in those of Cicero and Demosthenes.

+ Mr. Smart.

An exception is to be made in Dramatic Poetry; the accent being often neglected when it is of a conversational character.

It is not to be understood that the syllables noted are the only syllables which require an accent, but that these must be accented in order to preserve for it the character of verse. The accentuation of any other syllables must depend on the nature of the subject, and the taste of the reader.

Mr. Smart, in reference to this, observes, "the necessity of these accents is evident on this simple principle: the natural division of a heroic line is at the sixth syllable; the accent at that place is therefore the chief accent; it is in the middle, and is the great stay or support of the line; take away that support, and you can supply it only by two others at equal distances from it towards each end. These therefore may be called the essential accents of an Epic line; it is by these that blank verse is distinguished from numerous prose; it is by these, when the sense of one line runs into that of another, we are enabled to know when the one ends and the other begins, and not by any pause at the end of the lines, which, if not required on any other account, is unnecessary and useless."*

The accent is, for the reason just named, sometimes shifted, in poetry, that it may fall on the proper syllable; thus,

"With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.” MILTON. The accent on the above line will be on the second syllable instead of its natural place, the first.

Other kinds of verse are obedient to a law similar to the above, but especial care must be taken in observing the accentuation, to avoid a sing-song, which, of all things, is most disagreeable to the ear, and which the mechanical structure of certain kinds of verse may sometimes seem inclined to induce.

OF EMPHASIS.

Emphasis is a particular stress laid on certain words in a sentence. There are two kinds of emphasis: Explanatory and impressive. Explanatory emphasis is that which simply conveys the meaning of the speaker or reader; impressive emphasis is that more forcible stress used in Impassioned Reading and Declamation. The first kind

Theory of Elocution.

of emphasis the student will find well explained and illustrated in Murray's Grammar, and, as it more particularly refers to plain reading and speaking, it is not deemed necessary to introduce it here. The second kind, or impressive emphasis, is that to which the following remarks principally refer:

Although no rule can be given for the emphasis that is applicable in all cases, yet, in general, the Names and Attributes of the Deity, the Names of Persons and Places, especially of those of note. Personifications and Epithets require a powerful emphasis, thus,

"See now that I, even I am HE, and there is NO GOD with me; 1 kill and I make alive and there is none that can deliver out of MY hand,” Deut. xxxii. 39.

"The MIGHTY MASTER Smiled to see,
That Love was in the next degree;
'Twas but a kindred sound to move,
For PITY melts the soul to Love."

DRYDEN-Ode on St. Cecilia's Day.

In the above extract, the words marked by capitals will require a powerful emphasis; those marked by italics will require a slight emphasis.

Antitheses require a strong emphasis, as,

"Gods! can a Roman senate long debate

Which of the two to choose-SLAVERY or DEATH."
"It is not CÆSAR, but the GoDs, my Fathers-
The Gods declare against us, and repel

Our vain attempts."

A double emphasis is sometimes required, thus,

"So Love was crown'd, but Music won the cause." Sometimes a triple emphasis is necessary, as,

"HE raised a MORTAL to the SKIES,

SHE drew an ANGEL down."

CATO.

CATO.

In extemporaneous addresses, the speaker rarely fails in giving the proper emphasis; in reading, or reciting, he should thoroughly comprehend the writer's meaning, and speak as he would do if the language he uttered were his own. It may not be irrelevant to caution the juvenile elocutionist against laying a powerful emphasis too often, or where the sense may not require it. The object of emphasis being to fix the attention to some particular point of the

subject in preference to the rest, if words of little importance be rendered emphatic, the object will not only be unanswered, but the effect will be ridiculous.

OF PAUSES.

A Pause is an interval of utterance, caused by a suspension, or dropping of the voice. The common use of pauses is to allow the speaker time to take breath, as well as to relieve the ears of his auditors from an incessant continuity of sound.

In reading poetry, or in delivering impassioned language of any kind, and even in common reading, the points or stops are not only totally inefficient to direct the place and length of the pause, but they often mislead young persons, who, from having been erroneously taught, attach too much importance to them. The chief use of the points is to assist the reader in ascertaining the grammatical construction of the sentence, and not to determine, decisively, the duration of the pause. The pauses must be made to depend on the nature of the subject, and the judgment and discrimination of the reader or speaker: they must be at the same time, explanatory of the sense, and productive of harmony of sound.

A particular pause is required sometimes after, and sometimes before any thing, which we may be desirous of rendering peculiarly emphatic. This, from its nature, is called the emphatic pause, thus,

"O DEATH!

victory?"

-where is thy sting? O GRAVE!--where is thy

This kind of pause is also much used for the purpose of Dramatic effect, as,

"Queen. HAMLETHumlet. MOTHER

You have your father much offended.
-You have my father much offended."

A pause, properly sustained, adds great force to a sentiment, or expression, and renders it particularly emphatic. It was in pauses of this nature that Garrick so much excelled.

There is in verse a pause called the Casural Pause, which takes place somewhere in the middle of the verse; there is also sometimes a demi-casura, one half of the length of the former, which either precedes the former, or

D