Pulpit Elocution

Prose Rhythm.

Extract from Psalm XXXIII.

V. 1. "Re-joice in the | Lord |, | O ye | righteous |:|MI for praise |is| comely for the up- | right |.|11| 2. Praise the Lord with harp ||1111 sing

212 for

un- to him

| strings

with the | psaltery

and an instrument of¦ ten

play | skilfully with a | loud noise
For the word of the

and

and all his

works are done

Lord

is right;

in truth. TITITI

5. He | love'h | rightecusness | and | judgment |:|11111

the earth is full

791 971 9916:

By the

neavens made |;|17|

| breath of his mouth. ||19|17| 7. He | gathereth

as a heap |:|77| in | store-houses. I

stand in | awe of

him.1717 1719.11 For he spake, and it was | done |; he com- |manded,

771771771

Didactic Style.

and it | stood | fast | ." |

Reflections in Westminster Abbey.- Addison.

"Though I am | always | serious |, I do not | know what

it is to be melancholy

and can therefore take a view of | Nature | in her | deep | and | solemn | scenes |, | with the same | pleasure as in her | most | gay and de- | lightful ones. 1777 By this means I can improve myself with those objects which others | con- sider with | terror | . || TIMIT When I look upon the tombs of the great |, | every e- | motion of | envy | dies in me when I read the epitaphs of the { beautiful, every in- | ordinate de- | sire | goes out |;| meet with the grief of | parents my heart || melts

I consider the vanity of grieving for those || whom we must quickly | follow |:|11|17|77 when I seekings | lying by | those who de- | posed them, when I con- sider rival wits, placed side by side,

or the holy men that di- | vided the | world with their |

When I read the | several | dates of the | tombs, of some

and | some

shall all of us

be con- temporaries |, | and |

make our appearance to- | gether."

Oratorical Apostrophe.

Anticipation.-Webster.

are in the distant | regions

of fu- | turity |, |

ex-| ist || only in the | all-cre- | ating | power |
|
who shall stand | here, a hundred |

years hence, to trace, through | us,

scent from the | Pilgrims,

have now surveyed,

their de- |

and to survey,

as we

the progress of their | country |, |

during the lapse of a | century |:"|11|11||17|1" On the

| morning of that | day |, | al- | though it

| us | ˇ in our re- | pose,

| and | gratitude |, |

will not dis- | turb

the voice com- | mencing

of | accla- | mation on the | Rock

through | millions |

| Plymouth, shall be trans- | mitted

"Advance,

ye | future | *gener- | ations |!||

places

rise

in your long

* The initial half accent, in words analogous to the above, is assumed as the equivalent of a full accent; - the time of half accent being equal to that of accent, although the force is not.

bid you welcome to this | pleasant | land

thers.
ful skies,

We | bid you | welcome

and the verdant | fields

of the | Fa

to the healthof | New England .!

MIMI We | greet your ac- cession to the great in- | heritance which we have enjoyed ||77199719 We welcome you to the blessings of good | government and re-ligious | liberty |.|711 7717 We welcome you to the treasures of | science |, | and the de- | lights of | learning .177 We welcome you

dant sweets
of kindred, and parents, and

of do- | mestic | life |, |

to the tran- | scento the happiness |

children.

EXERCISES IN EMPHASIS.

Emphasis, as properly defined by Dr. Rush, in his Philosophy of the Voice, and, indeed, as is implied in the very etymology of the term, is not a mere comparative force of accent only, but a concentration of several or of many expressive elements of vocal sound, upon one element or syllable. The comparative force docs, no doubt, exist; but its use is to embody and impress the effect of the rest. Thus, if we select, as an example, the reply of Death to Satan, “Back to thy punishment! false fugitive,” we shall find that the first of the emphatic words, while

* True rhythm extends itself not only from clause to clause, but from sentence to sentence, and from paragraph to paragraph, and even to the long quadruple pause which follows the close of a piece or discourse. One of the faults in elocution by which the pulpit is sometimes degraded. is the business-like dispatch with which the minister passes from the last word of his sermon to the formula that follows. — as if his purpose were to obliterate, as quickly as possible, the effect of his discourse.— Paragraph pauses are usually double the length of those of periods. Double paragraph pauses are the proper distinctions of the heads of discourse; and these ought to be doubled, if referred to as a definite measure for the pause which should follow an entire discourse.

it is intensely forcible, derives much of its effect from "explosive" utterance and "radical stress," from "aspirated pectoral and guttural quality," from "low pitch," "falling inflection," or "downward slide," and "rapid movement," or "brief time;" and that if we subtract some or even any one of these properties, the exclamation sounds as if divested, more or less, of emphasis.

Emphasis may be regarded as classed under the following designations: "empassioned," or "absolute," as in the above example, -" unempassioned" or "intellectual," as in "designation," "distinction," or "discrimination," "correspondence," "contrast," and "preference," or "choice."

Examples.
Empassioned Emphasis.

"Wò is me! for I dwell among a people of unclean lips."

"Grace! 't is a charming sound"

"In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."*

Unempassioned Emphasis.

Designation. "The supreme love of God is the duty enjoined in the text."

Contrast. "The former is a blind and noisy applause, —the latter, a more silent and intèrnal homage."

"As

Correspondence. 'As ye sów, so shall ye rèap." the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God!"

Preference. "Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a stalled óx, and hatred therewith." †

* Additional examples, in large numbers, may be selected from any or all of the preceding exercises which express strong emotion.

† More examples may be found for practice, in the exercises on "inflection." The emphasis will, in these cases, be found coïncident with the accent indicating the slides of the voice.

EXERCISES IN "EXPRESSION."

"Expression," in elocution, as in music, is the term used to indicate the effect of feeling, in utterance. Thus, the learner enunciates words without "expression," when endeavoring to read, and still laboring under the difficulty of combining the sounds of syllables: the finished reader gives "expression," or throws feeling into what he reads. "Expression," therefore, in elocution, implies the utterance of emotion in all its characteristic properties of "quality," of voice, "force," "stress," "pitch," "inflection," "melody," "movement," "time," or "quantity," "rhythm," and "pause," -" emphasis."

When "expression" is regarded in consecutive passages, it is termed "variation," or, arbitrarily,—but not correctly,-"modulation."

The following exercises should be assiduously praetised, till every property of utterance, mentioned in each designation, is combined, in full effect, on its example.

Awe.

"Pectoral Quality," "Aspirated" Utterance,t" Suppressed" Force, "Median Stress," "Lowest" Pitch, "Monotone," "Slowest Movement,” Long Pauses.

Stanza. Translated by Bowring.

"Thou breathest; - and the obedient storm is still: Thou speakest; — silent the submissive wave:

Man's shattered ship the rushing waters fill,

And the hushed billows roll across his grave!

*The terms "key" and "modulation," though in frequent use with reference to elocution, belong exclusively to music; as there are no correspondent facts, in speech and reading, to those which justify these designations in music. See Dr. Rush's just observations on this point. †The deep resonance of the voice in the chest, and an "impure" or breathing quality of voice, in which we hear the whispering effect of the breath mingling, more or less, with the sounds which are uttered.

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Pulpit Elocution: Comprising Remarks on the Effect of Manner in Public ...