Here, although the syllables haste, know, to, thoughts, sweep, are naturally long; they are pronounced much quicker than if they had belonged to a sentence which expressed the ideas of slowness or difficulty.

Upon the whole, although no uniform standard can be adopted to determine the exact duration of syllables, with regard to one another, yet we find an amazing diversity in their mode of structure and pronunciation. As every syllable is uttered by one impulse of the breath, it produces a most agreeable effect upon the ear to vary the quantity of time as much as is consistent with just articulation.

Let the six mutes be sounded with the quickest and most animated explosion; particularly in the first syllables of such words as happiness, rapture, fluttering, which some pronounce in so drawling a tone, that the ear would totally mistake their quantity: and on the other hand,— Avoid contracting such articulations as require to be pronounced long, particularly in solemn or pathetic language: In the following words,

These, as they change, Almighty Father, these
Are but the varied God!

The hopping and mincing-mouthed declaimer would here pronounce the five long accents in the first line as if his lower jaw was locked up, and his lungs exhausted by the most violent asthmatic fit. To remedy a mode of utterance so improper and ungraceful,

Learn to acquire the shake, the swell, the full flowing tone on every vocal sound, and to use it with taste and discretion when acquired.

GRADATION AND EXTENT OF TONE.

A graceful pronunciation being obtained, the chief points in which consist of a round and flowing tone of voice, in a smooth transition from sound to sound, and a skilful variation of the quantity or length of syllables. The scale and compass of speech is next to be considered, the cultivation of which will afford the facility of speaking in different KEYS. To do this

Attempt to acquire extent of tone.

The best method to accomplish this, is for the pupil to practice his voice in ascending to its utmost extent, by full tones, and then by semitones; after that, let him be taught to fall, by

upon

just progression, to its lowest pitch. When he can ascend the scale to the utmost pitch of his voice, the master should fix any sentence, in verse or prose, and such sentence in all the different keys of which the voice is capable. For instance,

in these lines,

pronounce

Hear, O ye nations, hear it, O ye dead,

He rose, he rose, he burst the bars of death!

And again,

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up,
ye everlasting doors,

And the King of glory shall come in!

Let the first word hear be uttered in the lowest grumbling tone that you can render articulate. Speak the whole sentence in that suppressed key, which is only a small degree above a whisper. Then next time pronounce the word hear a full note higher than the former, and the whole sentence accordingly. Proceed in this manner 'till you arrive at the utmost squeaking tone that you can make vocal. Remember always to ascend by a full note or two semitones; and that you may be exact in striking the just key, it will be better to pronounce the first word of the sentence from the lowest note, 'till you arrive at the one you wish to start at, in the following manner: Suppose that you want to sound the seventh key :

Hear! Hear! Hear! Hear! Hear! Hear! Hear!

Let the same method be adopted when you descend from the highest to the lowest. The acquisition of being able thus to articulate in a variety of keys, though it may never be wanted in public speaking, will be found the best and only kind of practice to extend the compass of the voice, and give the speaker a proper command over it in his own medium.

After practising for a time all the varieties of keys of which he is capable, let the pupil cultivate an easy transition from one to another.

Some declaimers will speak one part of a sentence in a low murmuring voice, and in a moment make a sudden leap over the interval of five or six notes, and grate our ears with the most discordant squeak. This is perhaps done to show their variety of keys. It does indeed show variety; but remember, that all instantaneous transitions are ungraceful, unless directed by judgment, harmony, and feeling.

MEDIUM AND MANAGEMENT OF VOICE.

The medium of every person's voice is his common conversational key, which is always more easy and graceful than any other. What are generally called

"Reading tones," acquired at school, and which are mostly higher than the natural key pitch, must be avoided, or the command of articulation is lost, and the tones become weak, shrill, and broken, and may be observed in the expressing of grief and other passions. To prevent hoarseness and languor in the voice by over exertion,-observe the necessary pauses, by which you are able to draw in fresh supplies of air; and be cautious never to run yourself out of breath.

Vary the energy of exertion, by the judicious use of force or softness, as the occasion demands.

These may be called the Piano and Fórte of speech, and besides the relief they afford the speaker, create a variety which is always pleasing.

MELODY OF SPEECH.

Three objects must be principally studied to make a good reader or speaker,-To please the ear,-To inform the judgement-and to move the passions. These can only be obtained by acquiring melody of speech.

Melody of speech chiefly results from two causes,-A knowledge of the place or arrangement of the accented syllables,-and-the skilful modulation of the voice.

The proper utterance of the accented and unaccented syllables, is of itself an agreeable variation. If the syllables in the following lines, distinguished by the accents, are pronounced with their just elevation and spirit, they will relieve at once the organ of the speaker, and the ear of the hearer.

Under a tuft of shade that on a green

Stood whispering soft by a fresh fountain side,

They sat them down.

To cultivate the ear in the use and practice of accent, especially in reading verse,

Let the pupil accustom himself to BEAT TIME.

This practice was not unknown to the antients, and is to be performed by striking with the hand the accented syllables more smartly, and the unaccented more gently. Or, a more easy way is to strike, as in beating time to music, only the accented

K

syllables, and to pass over the unaccented altogether, or with only a slight inclination of the hand. As, for instance, in the following verse, where the accented syllables are printed in italics. Then what are the charms, can you guess,

That make them so fond of each other?
"Tis the pleasing remembrance of youth,
The raptures that youth did bestow,
The thoughts of past pleasure and truth
The best of all blessings below.

The effect of thus marking the accent, is not much unlike that of a drum, which is produced chiefly by the loudness or softness of the impulse, or that produced by the feet of the dancer. It is so important that it constitutes almost the whole harmony of composition; the different mode of arrangement of the accented syllables, rendering a sentence either easy and flowing, or harsh and unmusical.

Sentences which admit of the greatest number of unaccented syllables, are generally the most melodious. The ear, in reading, is pleased with the intervals between the accents. But if these intervals are filled up by a cluster of accented syllables, there is no division in the time. For this reason, too many emphatic monosyllables in a composition, never fail to obstruct the melody, -As in the next examples,

O'er bog, o'er steep, though rough, dense, smooth,
Or rare.

Him first, him last, him 'midst and without end.

On the other hand, compositions which contain a greater number of long words, must be most melodious to the ear, because they admit of a greater number of unaccented spaces. If however, the monosyllables are unemphatic or unaccented, they never injure the melody-As in the following lines

Here will we sit, and let the sound of music

Creep in our ears.

Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw.

The other grand quality in melody of speech consists in the cadence and modulation of the voice.

Modulation may be defined to be—an agreeable mode of raising or sinking the tone in any one sentence, or period.

It may be considered in four points of view:

1. With regard to the tone of voice in syllables.

2. In sounds; 3, in cadences; and 4, in whole sentences or periods.

The tone by which one syllable is distinguished from another, is the accent, just spoken of.

The tone of words consists in the elevation or depression of them, according to their arrangement in sentences. For instance:

If two or more words are joined together, one of them
must be pronounced in a higher tone than the rest; as
in the following sentence,-

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
Endureth all things.

Of the leading words in this passage "beareth," "believeth," "hopeth," "endureth," the word "believeth" should be pronounced considerably higher than the word "beareth;" but "endureth," which is the last emphatic word, will be much lower than any of them: so that the whole sentence, when gracefully spoken, forms a scale somewhat of this kind,

The Third species of Modulation is called the TONE of the CADENCES, and respects several sentences or a period.

As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him.

In the first sentence, the voice should fall, to denote a part of a period finished. In the second sentence, the voice should likewise fall, but the whole should be uttered in a higher key. The key pitch of the third sentence, should be the same as the first.—The last sentence should be spoken in a much lower key than the rest. The tone of the word "slew " in the last cadence, will form an agreeable contrast, properly pronounced, to the word "fortunate" in the second. The whole modulation will resemble the following:

EXCEPTIONS.-Sentences expressing wonder and sudden emotion, or ending in an interrogation, on the contrary, naturally raise the voice upon the concluding words:

Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,

That we must change for heav'n? This mournful gloom

For that celestial light?

Here the words "heaven" and "light" are to be uttered with a nervous and elevated tone.