merely for the information of our hearers, should we do it oratorically?*

Bernardo. I am pleased with your question, for it shows that you have already discriminated between the character of an orator uttering his own sentiments, and that of one who merely reads from a book. Where the reader merely reads his own speech, he may safely act the orator in his own person; but if he merely assumes the character of a reader of the words of another, he occupies a different position in the view of his hearers, and his manner must be different. Yet I would have you bear in mind that these two kinds of style or manner of reading should differ only in degree of force; the greater degree in the case of the orator, and the lesser in that of the reader: the tones, inflections, and gesticulations should be the same in kind in both.

Crito. I see there is much reason in this rule; for it would be very difficult for one who had assumed the character of a reader to change wholly to that of an orator, without doing violence to the feelings of his hearers. And yet the reader must give tones and inflections of the same kind as the orator used, or he will not faithfully represent him. But still another point has been suggested to me. What if the speaker quotes what another person said: how should we read this speech within a speech? For example, we will take the speech of Cassius, in which he is describing Cæsar under the paroxysms of a fever. Cassius says,

He had a fever when he was in Spain,

And, when the fit was on him', I did mark

How he did shake': 'tis true', this god' did shake,

His coward lips did from their color fly',

And that same eye', whose bend doth awe the world',

Did lose his 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',"
As a sick' girl.-SHAKSPEARE.

Must these words of Cæsar, "Give me some drink', Titinius', "+ be pre nounced in exact imitation of the small, feeble voice of a sick person'-jus as Cæsar spoke them'?

Bernardo. By no means, because Cassius did not pronounce them so; for, with only a partial imitation of the feeble voice of Cæsar, Cassius united a tone of scorn and contempt, which we should preserve when reading the passage. You must bear in mind that when reading a speech you are to assume the character of the leading speaker throughout, modified only in degree. If Cassius (the leading speaker) had merely mimicked Cæsar, without uniting scorn and contempt with the mimicry, he would have lowered himself to the character of a buffoon, and would thus have made himself appear ridiculous. Much more ridiculous should we appear if, in reading this passage, we should become the mere mimic, and that at third hand too. In Shakspeare's Henry the Fourth, the hero, Hotspur, describes a conceited fop in language indicative of anger and contempt. In reading the speech we must assume the character of Hotspur rather than that of the

* If the reader supposes that Crito designed this as a repeated question, he will give it the falling inflection, in accordance with Note 3, Rule I. Otherwise he will give it the rising inflection. Now who shall decide what Crito's intention was? All those who regard it as a repeated question will evidently read it in one way, and all those who regard it as merely explanatory will read another way. This well illustrates the principle laid down, that different readings of a passage arise from different interpretations of it.

† Even here the degree of force must be less than when these words are supposed to be spoken by Cassius.

fop whom he describes, carrying out the leading passion instead of the secondary. If in reading any piece we so far forget the leading passion as to assume the secondary entirely, we fall into mimicry, and render our expression, however just in other respects, ridiculous. I will read the whole speech of Hotspur, in one part of which, as you will perceive, he assumes to give the language of the fop.

My liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But I remember, when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage and extreme toil,
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin, new reap'd,
Show'd like a stubble-field at harvest-home:

He was perfumed like a milliner;

And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon

He gave his nose, and took't away again;

Who, therewith angry, when it next came there,
Took it in snuff: and still he smiled and talk'd;
And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,

He called them untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.

With many a holiday ad lady terms

He question'd me; among the rest demanded

My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf.

I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold,

To be so pester'd by a popinjay,

Out of my grief and my impatience,

Answer'd neglectingly, I know not what;

He should, or he should not; for he made me mad`,

To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,

And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman,

Of guns, and drums, and wounds (God save the mark!),

And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth

Was spermaceti for an inward bruise;

And that it was great pity, so it was,

That villainous saltpetre should be digg'd

Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,

Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed

So cowardly; and, but for these vile guns,

He would himself' have been a soldier'.

This bold unjointed chat of his, my lord',
I answer'd indirectly, as I said;

And I beseech you, let not this report

Come current for an accusation,

Betwixt my love and your high majesty.-SHAKSPEARE.

Crito. I perceive that the rule which you have laid down will also apply to what is supposed to have been said by the hoary-headed swain in Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard.

For thee, who, mindful of the unhonor'd dead,
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate,
If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit should inquire thy fate',
Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,

Oft have we seen him, at the peep of dawn,
Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.
"There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech,
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And

pore upon the brook that babbles by," etc.-GRAY.

Bernardo. You are correct. It would be very ridiculous, in reading this

passage, to quit the melancholy tone of the narrator, and assume the indifferent and rustic accent of the old swain. What is needed in reading the last seven lines of this extract is to abate the plaintive tone a little, and give it a slight tincture only of the indifference and rusticity of the person introduced. The same principle applies to the "last words of Marmion," in the following extract from Sir Walter Scott:

The war, that for a space did fail,

Now trebly thundering swelled the gale,
And-Stanley! was the cry.

A light on Marmion's visage spread,
And fired his glazing eye.

With dying hand, above his head

He shook the fragment of his blade,

And shouted "Victory!

Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!"

Were the last words of Marmion.-SCOTT.

How often have I heard this passage, containing the last words of the dying hero, murdered by the schoolboy in a vain attempt to give it all the force of the living reality. Where the narrator stands out prominently before the mind, and is represented as telling what another person said, it is not in good taste for one who is reading the narration to change to, and fully assume, the character of that other person. He must give the greater prominence throughout to the passion shown by the leading characterthat of the supposed narrator. For example, the reader or speaker should give greater prominence to the passion of Cassius' than to that of sick Casar'; to that of Hotspur' than to that of the fop'; to that of the narrator in the Elegy' than to that of the rustic swain'; and to that of the describer of the battle' than to the character of Marmion'. Much force should, indeed, be given to the repeated words of Marmion, but they must not be screamed out, as Marmion uttered them.

Crito. But what if I am reading a dialogue, or one of Shakspeare's Plays. Do the same principles prevail here', and is the same rule to be observed'?

Bernardo. By no means. The principles of the composition are entirely different. In dialogue, the personification of each character is complete and entire in itself, and wholly independent. Therefore, in dialogue, or in dramatic composition, full force and energy should be given to the passion shown by each character.

Crito. May not, then, the personification be so complete in some other kinds of composition as to require the same degree of force and energy as in dramatic writing'?

Bernardo.. Certainly it may be. Thus, at the beginning of Gray's Poem, "The Bard," one of the bards of Wales is represented as meeting King Edward on his march, and addressing him in the following language of sublime rage, which should be read or spoken with all the vehemence which may be supposed to have characterized the language of the bard himself.

As down the steep of Snowdon's shaggy side

He wound with toilsome march his long array.-GRAY.

Here the personification is complete, and the language of the bard is strictly dramatic. I will give you one example more. The personification of pride, in Pope's Essay on Man, is complete, and not subordinate to any other passion, and may therefore be allowed a forcible dramatic expression. Ask for what end the heavenly bodies shine',

Earth for whose use': Pride' answers', "Tis for mine'.
For me kind Nature wakes her genial power,
Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower;
Annual for me the grape, the rose, renew
The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew':
For me the mine a thousand treasures brings',

For me health gushes from a thousand springs;
Seas roll to waft me', suns to light me rise',

My footstool earth', my canopy the skies."-POPE.

This passage is essentially dramatic, and admits of a certain splendor in the pronunciation expressive of the ostentation of the speaker, and the riches and grandeur of the objects introduced. But I think we have gone over sufficient ground for one evening. The topics which we have here only briefly adverted to may be considered as merely introductory to the subject of ORATORY, which I trust you will have opportunity to attend to hereafter.*

SIXTH EVENING.

ANALYSIS.-Directions for the cultivation of the voice. Flexibility. Power of voice. The natural pitch of the voice. The middle tone. Practical directions for strengthening this middle tone. Macbeth's address to Banquo's ghost. Exercises for strengthening the low or bass tones. Lady Macbeth's reproach of her husband. Lady Constance reproaching the Duke of Austria. Exercises for strengthening the high tones. Cautions suggest

ed.

Extract from an oration of Demosthenes. The harmonizing of the sense and the sound. To preserve the melody of verse and avoid monotony. Lamentation of Orpheus. Darius. Repetition of a word. When a sing-song tone may be admissible. Pauper's Drive." Extensive use of the circumflex or wave. Use of the tremor.

"The

Crito. In our former conversations it appears to have been taken for granted that the reader is able to execute readily all those inflections and modulations of voice that are required in the various kinds of elocutionary reading. But may not some useful directions be given for the cultivation of the voice'?

Bernardo. The cultivation of clearness and distinctness of intonation, together with practice in the inflections and modulations, will give the voice all requisite flexibility; but something more is required to give it power. That requires a different kind of practice-a physical training of the voice, which should be under the guidance of physiological principles.

Crito. But may not judicious exercises be appropriately given for strength. ening the voice, even without a knowledge of the principles to which you refer'?

Bernardo. There may, indeed, and to some of them I purpose now to call your attention. You are perhaps aware that every one has a certain natural pitch of voice, in which he is most easy to himself, and most agreeable to others. This is the pitch in which we converse; and this must be the basis of every improvement we acquire from art and exercise. If we would increase our power of voice, we must strengthen this ordinary middle tone; and in order to do this, we must read and speak in this tone as loud as possible, without suffering the voice to rise into a higher key.

*The subject of ORATORY is set apart as one of the divisions of the Seventh, or Aca. demical Reader.

When we attempt this for the first time we find it no easy operation; it is not difficult to be loud in a high tone, but to be loud and forcible without raising the voice into a higher key requires great practice and management. If you wish to strengthen your voice without danger of injuring it by over-exertion, I would advise you to practice reading and speaking some strong, animated passages in a small room, and to persons placed at as small a distance from you as possible; address them with your voice at a natural pitch, and throw into it all the force possible, taking care not to let the voice rise into a higher key. This will tend to swell and strengthen the voice in the middle tone, the tone that is most required in reading and oratory, and the only tone that one can speak in for a long time with comfort to himself or pleasure to others. A good practice on this tone of voice will be such passages as Macbeth's address to Banquo's ghost, or any other language addressed to persons near us.

Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes

Which thou dost glare with!

What man dare I dare:

Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;
Take any shape but that', and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble.

Hence, horrible shadow!

Unreal mock'ry, hence!-Macbeth, Act III., Scene 4.

Crito. Such exercises, I perceive, are well fitted to strengthen the ordinary tone; but if one is deficient in the low or bass tones (which I know are sometimes very effective in oratory), what kind of pieces will then be most suitable for practice?

Bernardo. Those, doubtless, which indicate hatred, scorn, or reproach; for such feelings are naturally expressed in a full, audible tone of voice, and in a low key. Such pieces should be read or spoken at first a little below the common pitch; when we can do this with ease we may practice them on a key a little lower, and then lower still, and so on until we get as low as we desire. The following, from Shakspeare, where Lady Macbeth reproaches her husband with want of manliness, will be found a good exercise for this purpose:

O proper stuff!

This is the proper painting of your fears:
This is the air-drawn dagger', which you said
Led you to Dunean'. Oh, these flaws and starts
(Impostors to true fear) would well become

A woman's story at a winter's fire,

Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!

Why do you make such faces'? When all's done',

You look but on a stool'.-Macbeth, Act III., Scene 4.

Or where Lady Constance, in King John, reproaches the Duke of Austria with want of courage and spirit:

Constance. War! war! no peace! peace is to me a war.

O Austria! thou dost shame

That bloody spoil. Thou slave! thou wretch! thou coward!
Thou little valiant, great in villainy!

Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!

Thou fortune's' champion, that dost never fight

But when her humorous ladyship is by

To teach thee safety! thou art perjur'd too,
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp', and swear`