fall it mést, amid the proudest mònuments of its own glóry, and on the very spot of its òrigin.

III. ASPIRATED QUALITY.

Aspirated quality means, in general, a combination of tone with whisper, causing the huskiness and harshness produced by a superabundance of breath under the influence of powerful emotions, such as anger, rage, terror, and horror. The whisper represents the extreme of aspirated quality.

THE WHISPER.

The pure whisper lies half way between breathing and vocality. The half-whisper is a combination of tone and whisper. The forcible whisper is a most valuable vocal exercise. It requires full, deep, and frequent breathing, and the vigorous use of the lips, tongue, and other vocal organs. The degrees of force in the whisper are indicated by the terms effusive, expulsive, and explosive.

The pure whisper is rarely used in reading, the effect being generally suggested by the half-whisper, or by aspirated quality. The following exercises and examples are given for the purposes of vocal training.

TABLE OF ASPIRATES.

[First whisper the words, then the aspirates, and then give the phonic spelling of each word in a forcible whisper.]

WHISPER DRILL.

Practice each exercise with three degrees of force: (1) Effusive, or soft. (2) Expulsive, or forcible. (3) Explosive, or intense.

1. With effusive force, repeat as many times as possible without taking breath: ā-ē-ï-ō-ū.

2. To ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, join ƒ, and repeat as above; join t; join h.

3. Count, in a whisper, from one to ten, with one breath; from one to twenty; one to thirty, or more.

EXAMPLES OF EFFUSIVE WHISPER.

1. Step softly, and speak low.

2. Whisper! she is going to her final rest. Whisper life is growing dim within her breast.

3. Hark! hist! around I list.

The bounds of space all trace efface
Of sound.

4. And his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand:

'Is n't God upon the water,

Just the same as on the land?"

5. And again to the child I whispered:

"The snow that husheth all,

Darling, the merciful Father

Alone can make it fall!"

6. And the bridemaidens whispered: "'Twere better by far, To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."

7. The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;
And the white rose weeps, "She is late;"

The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;".
And the lily whispers, "I wait."

EXAMPLES OF EXPULSIVE WHISPER.

1. Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! they come! they come!"

2. To bed, to bed; there's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, give me your hand.

3. Soldiers! You are now within a few steps of the enemy's outposts. Let every man keep the strictest silence, under pain of instant death.

EXAMPLES OF EXPLOSIVE WHISPER.

1. Hark! I hear the bugles of the enemy. For the boats! Forward! Forward!

3. Art thou some gód, some angel, or some devil, That mak'st my blood run cold and my hair to stand!

WHISPER AND TONE.

In some of the following illustrations of aspirated quality, the whisper predominates over tone; in others, the aspiration only affects the tone with a marked roughness, huskiness, or aspirated harshness. The extent to which aspirated quality may be applied is often a matter of taste on the part of the reader.

EXAMPLES.

1. But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell.

2. THE CURFEW BELL.

Sexton," Bessie's white lips faltered, pointing to the

prison old,

With its walls so dark and gloomy-walls so dark, and damp, and cold—

"I've a lover in that prison, doomed this very night

to die,

At the ringing of the Curfew, and no earthly help is nigh. Cromwell will not come till sunset," and her face grew strangely white,

As she spoke in husky whispers, "Curfew must not ring to-night."

3. MACBETHI TO THE GHOST.

Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hìde thee!
Thy bones are màrrowless, thy blood is cold:
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes

Which thou dost glàre with!

Unreal mockery, hènce !

Hence, horrible shadow!

4. HAMLET TO THE GHOST.

[Aspirated quality and occasional half-whisper.]

Angels and ministers of grace defènd ùs!
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damned-
Bring with thee airs from héaven, or blasts from hell-

Be thy intents wicked, or charitable

Thou com'st in such a questionable shape

That I will speak to thee. I'll call thee, Hàmlet,
King, father, royal Dàne: Oh, answer me:

Let me not bùrst in ígnorance! but tell
Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cèrements! why the sepulcher,
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurned,

Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again? What may this mean,
That thou, dead corse, again, in cómplete steel,
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous: and we fools of nature,
So horribly to shake our disposition,

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?
Say, why is this? whèrefore? what should we do?

5. FROM EUGENE ARAM."

[Horror and remorse. Aspirated pectoral and guttural quality.]
And, lo! the universal air

Seemed lit with ghastly flame ;-
Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes
Were looking down in blame:
I took the dead man by his hand,
And called upon his name!

O God! it made me quake to see
Such sense within the slain!
But when I touched the lifeless clay,
The blood gushed out amain!
For every clot, a burning spot
Was scorching in my brain!

And now, from forth the frowning sky,
From the heaven's topmost height,

I heard a voice-the awful voice

:

Of the blood-avenging sprite :-
"Thou guilty man! take up thy dead
And hide it from my sight!"

[Horror and fear.

6. MACBETH.

HOOD.

Intense suppressed force; prevailing monotone ;

very slow movement; strong aspirated quality.]

Now o'er the one half world

Nature seems dèad; and wicked dreams abūse
The curtained sleep; now witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings; and withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,

Whōse hōwl's his watch, thūs with his stealthy pace,
Towards his design

Moves like a ghòst.—Thōu sūre and firm-set earth!
Hear not my steps, which way they walk; för fear
The very stones prate of my whereabout,

And take the present hōrror frōm the tīme
Which now suits with it.