Be sure and get the right feeling and thought, and you will find no difficulty in expressing them properly, if you have mastered the voice.

Both these circumflex inflections may be exemplified in the word "80," in a speech of the Clown, in Shakespeare's "As You Like It:”

I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If; as if you said so, then I said sô. Oh, hô! did you say so? So they shook hands, and were sworn friends.

The Queen of Denmark, in reproving her son, Hamlet, on account of his conduct towards his step-father, whom she married shortly after the murder of the king, her husband, says to him, " Hamlet, you have your father much offended." To which he replies, with a circumflex on you, Madam, you have my father much offended." He meant his own father; she, his step-father. He would also intimate that she was accessory to his father's murder; and his peculiar reply was like daggers in her soul.

In the following reply of Death to Satan, there is a frequent occurrence of circumflexes, mingled with contempt: "And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heaven, hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here, and scorn, where I reign king? — and, to enrage thee more, they king and lord!" The voice is circumflexed on heaven, hell-doomed, king, and thy, nearly an octave.

Zounds! show me what thou'lt do: woul't fast? woul't tear thyself? I'll do it. Dost thou come here to whine? to outface mě, with leaping in her grave? Be buried quick with her, and so will I; and if thou prate of mountains, let them throw MIL LIONS of acres on us, till our ground, singeing her pate against the burning zone, makes Ossa like a wart. Nay, and thoul't mouth, I'll rant as well as thou.

For the purpose of securing flexibility of voice in this complex movement, and for the executions of Inflections and Transition, an exercise may be given on the direct and inverted waves, — single and double, as represented by the following diagram. If the direction of the first part of the wave is upward, it is called direct; if downward, indirect.

Practice on the "Speech of the Clown" until the utterance becomes natural. Then this sentence, "Did you say hail'? Yes, I said hail^." The interval will be third, fifth, or octave, according to earnestness.

DIAGRAM OF SIMPLE AND COMPOUND CIRCUMFLEXES.
DIRECT EQUAL SINGLE WAVE.

INVERTED EQUAL SINGLE WAVE.

Semitone. Tone. Third. Fifth. Octave. Semitone. Tone. Third. Fifth. Octave.

Semitone. Tone. Third. Fifth. Octave. Semitone. Tone. Third. Fifth. Octave.

We can not leave the subject of the Inflections, Slides, and Waves of the voice without noticing a few of the faults to be avoided.

The principal faults in the intonation of the cadence may be enumerated as follows:

First, its total omission: for repose of the cadence at the termination of a conspicuous train of thoughts, is in the highest degree grateful to the ear, and should, therefore, never be omitted.

Second, a descent of the voice below the current melody to that extent which renders the last constituent of the cadence inaudible.

Care should be taken that, in lowering the voice to form the cadence, its force may be kept sufficiently up, to render the close of the sentence perfectly audible. If the general pitch of the voice be so regulated as not to fall too low in effecting the close, there will be no difficulty in making it sufficiently loud and forcible.

Third, a repetition of the same form of cadence at every pause greater than that indicated by a comma. This monotony of the cadence may be avoided by the use of the suspension, or be changed to some other form of the cadence.

Fourth, a want of variety, in not using a sufficient number of the different forms.

There is an ample source for variety in the forms of the cadence, suited to all kinds of sentiment, and all forms of quantity, in the terminating syllables of sentences.

Careful study, combined with suitable practice, can not fail to correct all these defects above enumerated.

In the personation, in the following, an opportunity is given for the waves, direct and indirect :

A Fool! a Fool! I met a Fool i' th' forest
A motley Fool. A miserable world!

As I do live by food, I met a Fool,

Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun,
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms, - and yet a motley Fool.
"Good morrow, Fool," quoth I.

"No, sir," quoth he,

"Call me not Fool, till heav'n hath sent me fortune:""
And then he drew a dial from his poke,

And looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says, very wisely, "It is ten o'clock:

Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags:
"Tis but an hour ago since it was nine;
And after one hour more, 't will be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
And thereby hangs a tale." When I did hear
The motley Fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
That fools should be so deep-contemplative;
And I did laugh, sans intermission,

An hour by his dial! — Oh, noble Fool!
A worthy Fool! Motley's the only wear.

PERSONATION.

We should give especial attention to the change of voice in Personation. In public reading and declamation, it is of great importance; but is generally overlooked, or but little practiced.

The narrative or descriptive sentences leading to the Personation, will depend for Force, Pitch, and Time, upon the character of the ideas in the Personation. For instance, if a death scene is being given, as in "Poor Little Jim," the Pitch will be low, and diminish until the words uttered by the dying boy are reached. Then, with Pure Voice, slightly Tremor, Pitch moderate, and Time slow, with a pause between the narrative and the quoted words, the speaker will say:

"Tell father, when he comes from work, I said good-night to him; and mother-now-I'll-go-to-sleep.

The last words very soft, and hesitating utterance.

Before this example, is another in the same selection, not quite so marked; which we give, from the third verse. She gets her answer from the child; softly fall the words from him —

"Mother, the angels do so smile, and beckon little Jim !

I have no pain, dear mother, now, but oh, I am so dry!
Just moisten poor Jim's lips again — and, mother, don't you cry."
With gentle, trembling haste, she held the liquid to his lips,

That which is quoted is supposed to be uttered by the dying child, and can not be given effectively without the changes in voice, etc., referred to above.

If the climax of the narrative is a battle scene, and the Personation represents an officer giving the command to charge, as in "The Light Brigade," then the most marked change will be made in the voice, between the descriptive and the Personation.

"Forward the light brigade! take the guns!" demands Full Force, Quick Time, High Pitch, Compound Stress; and the descriptive preceding it will commence with Moderate Pitch, Moderate Time (increasing), and Medium Force, with Median Stress.

We give a number of

EXAMPLES

for the practice of the transitions necessary in Personations.

1.

(per.)

(desc.)

"Stand to your guns, men!" Morris cried.
Small need to pass the word;

Our men at quarters ranged themselves

Before the drum was heard.

The Pitch should fall three notes, at least, on the words "Morris cried," and raised but slightly on the remainder of the stanza.

2.

(desc.) And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people: (per.) "Ye men of Israel, why, marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness, we had made this man to walk?" etc.

To read the Bible acceptably in public, requires the application of every principle in elocution; for no where is Expression so richly rewarded, as in the pronunciation of the sacred text. The descriptive and Personation should be so distinctly marked, that the attention will be at once attracted to the different styles, and the meaning understood.

3.

Shout, Tyranny, shout

Through your dungeons and palaces, Freedom is o'er !"

Princes! potentates!

Warriors! the flower of heaven- - once yours, now lost!

If such astonishment as this can seize

These abominable principles, and this more abominable avowal of them, demand the most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend and this most learned Bench, to vindicate the religion of their God, to defend and support the justice of their country. I call upon the bishops to interpose the unsullied sanctity of their lawn, upon the judges to interpose the purity of their ermine, to save us from this pollution.

EXPRESSION OF THE PASSIONS AND EMOTIONS.

OBJECT OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.

Language is the foundation of a sentiment or emotion. As it is impossible to print a tear, a groan, a sneer, a laugh, or a look, so it is impossible to express all the meaning of an author, unless in the spirit of the sentiment, and, from long practice, one is able to express that sentiment. The mere repetition of the words of Shakespeare, would give little idea of the full meaning and power of those words. In this view, MANNER is quite as important as MATTER; for without it, the choicest ideas, as represented by words, are lifeless. The study of Expression is the most important part of Elocution, as it is the appropriate and harmonious application of all the principles that form the science of utterance. It is the ART of Elocution.

In extemporaneous discourse, emotions may suggest language, and language may suggest emotion. The emotions excited by language, arise from the clear, strong, and suitable exhibition of the relation of the ideas