The Roman from his birthright; and for what? Vipers, that creep where men disdain to climb, And, having wound their loathsome track to the t "6 But now my sword's my own. Smile on, my Lord I scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes, But here I stand and scoff you! here I fling From CROLY'S "Catiline's Defiance. Envoys of Rome, the poor camp of Spartacus is 1 much honored by your presence. And does Rome stoop parley with the escaped gladiator, with the rebel ruffian, whom heretofore no slight has been too scornful? You ha come, with steel in your right hand, and with gold in yo left. What heed we give the former, ask Cossinius; a Claudius; ask Varinius; ask the bones of your legions th fertilize the Lucanian plains. And for your gold-would y know what we do with that,―go ask the laborer, the trodde poor, the helpless and the hopeless, on our route; ask a whom Roman tyranny had crushed, or Roman avaric plundered." See page 156. "I raised the dying youth tenderly in my arms. O, the magnanimity of Rome! Your haughty leaders, enraged at being cheated of their death-show, hissed their disappointment, and shouted, 'Kill!' ' See page 157. what? imb, to the top ome, And the prætor drew back as if I were pollution, and sternly said, 'Let the carrion rot! There are no noble men but Romans.' And so, fellow gladiators, must you, and so my Lords! pes, Defiance." us is too stoop to fian, for You have in your us; ask ons that ould ye rodden ask all avarice 156. O, the ed at -oint -57. THE FALSETTO AND THE NASAL Besides these four qualities two others should be mentioned, principally that they may be avoided, -the Falsetto and the Nasal. The Falsetto is a shrill, artificial tone, of a pitch above the natural register. It is often called a head tone, since its resonance is in the upper part of the pharynx. The Nasal, an impure twanging quality, is caused by obstruction in the nostrils or by a wrong management of the soft palate. The legitimate use of these tones is rare. The Falsetto is sometimes used in impersonating old age or in expressing great excitement, and the Nasal is used in expressing drollery and laziness, but in general the Falsetto is either ridiculous or tiresome, and the Nasal especially repulsive. In remedying the latter a speaker needs to train his ear that he may be able to tell a pure from a nasal tone. Here 66 a teacher will be of great service to a speaker, both in telling him when his tone is nasal, and in speaking a pure tone for him to imitate. Secondly, in remedying this defect, a speaker should strengthen the muscles of the soft palate. This may be done and a "perception of the denasalizing action of the soft palate" gained by the following exercise: Sound the consonants m b without separating the lips, as in pronouncing the word 'ember'. The change from m to b is nothing more than the covering of the nasal aperture by the soft palate; and the change from 6 to m, without separating the lips, as in the word 'submit', is merely the uncovering of the nasal aperture."'* * A. M. Bell; "The Faults of Speech," p. 31. Edgar S. Werner, New York. Lastly, a speaker should keep the nostrils as health possible. The Nasal tone is often the result of mo breathing and catarrh. The nostrils may be kept open healthy by the aid of the breathing exercises, especially humming exercise on page xi. FORCE Force, as far as it concerns a speaker, is the power strength exerted in the production of speech. The intens of the force employed depends upon the physical conditi of the speaker, his natural strength of voice, upon t thought or emotion expressed, and upon the size of t audience to which he is speaking. A frequent result of t employment of force in speaking is loudness,--frequent bi not necessary, for a person may speak with force and yet i a whisper or in a half-vocalized tone. How loud shall one speak? is a question of importance Look out for the beginning. There is much of practica sense in the old rhyme: At first speak only so loud as is necessary to make all your audience hear. Never go below that; for a speech with a word or phrase dropped out of it every few minutes is as provoking as a clipped newspaper. Make sure that the man in the back part of the hall hears you; but in doing so do not bawl, shriek, or rant. Remember that correct breathing, distinct articulation, and the knack of throwing your voice out will make your speech more audible and more agreeable than will mere shouting. Never give the impression that you are doing your utmost all the time; even in your impassioned moments show that you have reserve force; there is much power in repose. The degrees of force are manifold. For practical purposes, however, we may make four divisions Subdued, Moderate, Declamatory, and Impassioned. These divisions vary with different speakers and with the same speaker under different conditions. What, for example, is Moderate for a mature and vigorous speaker may be Impassioned for a schoolboy, and a tone Declamatory in a study may be hardly more than Subdued in a large auditorium. Speaking, then, under these conditions, we may say that Subdued force is employed in the expression of tenderness, comfort, pity, sympathy, tranquillity, quietude, weariness, feebleness, secrecy, timidity, indifference. Moderate force is employed in the expression of didactic thought, unemotional discourse, gladness, joy, and nearly all the milder emotions. Declamatory force is used in the expression of patriotism, grandeur, courage, determination. Impassioned force is used in the expression of the strongest, most vehement and violent emotions,-defiance, anger, abhorrence, horror. EXERCISES Speak the following sentences as if addressing a person at first five feet from you, then ten, twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty, two hundred: (a) Where are you going? (6) Ask John to send me his grandfather's coat. (c) What boat is that off the Point? Is that the Columbia? (d)" Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead!”’ (e) "On, on, you noble English, Where bleed is for from fathers (f) That those whom you called fathers did beg And teach them how to war!" "And you good ye Whose limbs were made in England, show u I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE IN EMPLOYING DIFFEREN DEGREES OF FORCE SUBDUED So tired, so tired, my heart and I! It was not thus in that old time When Ralph sat with me neath the lime From MRS. BROWNING'S "My Heart and I. |