It is a fault of many readers and speakers to close their sentences or speeches as though their voices died away, and they with them. Others make small and comparatively unimportant words too prominent; thus, "This is a question of fact for the jury, and not of law for the court, and if the court resume the responsibility of deciding this question, which belongs to the jury and not to the court, then I shall say, in the language of the immortal bard:

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Farewell, liberty, and farewell freedom."

It need not be said that elocution requires the words in italic in the above and the following specimens, to be pronounced with less, instead of more emphasis than the more important words. If the gentleman could see a man in the presidential chair of a lofty stature, manly eloquence, easy manners, and a defender of a high tariff, he would be, doubtless, contented."

There are, however, some instances in which the meaning of a sentence depends upon the emphatic manner in which small words are pronounced. In the "Merchant of Venice," Bassanio thus apologises to his wife for having given a ring which he received from her, to a friend :

"If you did know to whom I gave the ring,
If you did know for whom I gave the ring,
And would conceive for what I gave the ring,
And how unwillingly I left the ring,
When naught would be accepted but the ring,

You would abate the strength of your displeasure.”

An emphatic stress upon the small words in italic, in this example, makes it intelligible and interesting.

"It

The art of reading in a graceful and impressive manner, is of great value to ladies as well as gentlemen. The subject is presented in its true and interesting light, in the following extract from the North American Review: ought to be a leading object in our schools to teach the art of reading. It ought to occupy three-fold more time than it does. The teachers of these schools should labor to improve themselves. They should feel that, to them, for a time, are committed the future orators of the land. We had rather have a child, even of the other sex, return to us

from a school, a first rate reader, than a first rate performer on the piano. We should feel that we had a far better pledge for the intelligence and talent of our child. The accomplishment, in its perfection, would give more pleasure. The voice of song is not sweeter than the voice of eloquence. And there may be eloquent readers as well as eloquent speakers. We speak of perfection in this art, and it is something, we must say in defence of our preference, which we have never yet seen. Let the same pains be devoted to reading as are required to form an accomplished performer on an instrument; let us have our formers of the voice, the music masters of the reading voice, as the ancients had; let us see years devoted to this accomplishment, and then we shall be prepared to stand the comparison. It is, indeed, a most intellectual accomplishment. So is music, too, in its perfection. But one recommendation of the art of reading, is, that it requires a constant excercise of mind. It demands continual and close reflection and thought, and the finest discrimination of thought. It involves, in its perfection, the whole art of critcism on language."

ON QUANTITY, OR THE PROLONGATION OF THE VOWEL ELEMENTS.

All well informed individuals know the meaning of quantity in vocal music. In elocution, it seems not to be equally as well understood. In speech, as well as song, it consists in prolonging the vowel elements which are usually called the vowel sounds, without elevating the voice upon them. It is decidedly the most important element of expression. It is emphasis by time. It should not be given, except upon words or sentences of unusual importance. Solemn subjects; prayers, every thing of deep pathos,-all pieces, whether in prose or poetry, relating to the great and imperishable interest of man, as a being who has entered upon an interminable state of duration, such as St. Paul's description of the resurrection, Montgomery's Grave, Thanatopsis, Adam and Eve's Morning Hymn, and our Lord's Prayer, should be read or recited with quantity.

In giving quantity, song and draw! must be avoided. There should be no admixture of either. Pure speech should be preserved. Shakspeare warns us against "mouthing our words," by which he doubtless means, drawl. Half a century since, public speakers and readers were more in the habit of degenerating into song or drawl, or both, than now. But whoever will be at the trouble to be. come theoretically and practically acquainted with elocution, will see that our cotemporaries are not entirely free from such faults. Those who read and partly sing at the same time, do neither well. It is related of Cæsar, that a person read with such a degree of song before him, that he inquired: "Do you read or sing?”

The sound of an agreeable voice is made by inhaling the air into the recesses of the lungs, and throwing it skillfully through the lips and nostrils.

In pronouncing an element, a certain amount of time is unavoidably consumed. It is easy to perceive that in the word name, we necessarily give the letter a, a longer sound than in man. In name, the e is silent. It has therefore three sounds. The word man, too, has three sounds. The only difference is: in the word name, the a has a long sound; in man, short. In pronouncing either of the words, the organs of speech assume three distinctive positions. Nearly all words are susceptible of quantity, to some extent. It can, however, much more easily be given upon words, the vowel sounds of which are long, as in ale, all, eve, isle, old, ooze. It is peculiarly improper to attempt to give quantity to syllables, the time of which cannot be extended, without changing their elementary and natural sounds. Act, pit, end, art, flood, memory, are of this description.

The syllables and words marked in italic, in the following examples, require quantity.

"Oh! happiness our being's end and aim."

"Green be thy fields, sweetest isle of the ocean.
"Roll on, thou dark and deep blue ocean, roll.”
"Hail ho-ly light." "We praise thee, O Lord."

"O, thou that roll-est above." "The curfew tolls."

"Sorrow breaks seasons and re-po-sing hours,
Makes the night morn-ing, and the noon-tide night."

"And every turf beneath their feet,

Shall be a sol-dier's sepulchre."

"When I am forgotten, as I shall be,

And sleep in dull, cold marble."

"We carved not a line, we raised not a stone;

But left him alone, with his glory."

"On the cold cheek of death, smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb."

"Yet a few days, and the all-be-hold-ing Sun shall see no more, in all his course."

"Oh! flow

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rs, that never will in other climate grow."

High on a throne of royal state.”

"Join voices, all ye living souls."

"Hail, universal Lord."

"O, my mother Earth, take home thy child."

"Come to the bridal cham-ber, Death."

"So let it be with Cæsar."

"Here comes his body, mourn-ed by Mark Antony."

"The roll-ing surf, as it breaks over the reef, will resound to him a deep and sol-emn re-quiem."

"Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?"

"Fare-well awhile; I will not leave you long."

"Could we but climb where Moses stood, And view the landscape o'er,

Not Jor-dan's stream, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore."

"I heard many angels round about the throne, saying with a loud voice, wor-thy is the Lamb that was slain."

"Be-hold! I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in-corruptible, and we shall be changed."

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and an-oth-er book was opened, which is the book of Life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man, coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us, this day, our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from e-vil: For thine is the king-dom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen."

us.

"Scaling yonder peak,
I saw an eagle wheeling near its brow;
O'er the abyss, his broad ex-pan-ded wings
Lay calm and mo-tionless upon the air,
As if he floated there with-out their aid,
By the sole act of his unlorded will,
That buoy'd him proudly up. Instinctively
I bent my bow, yet kept he rounding still
His airy circle, as in the de-light

Of measuring the ample range bencath,

And round about; ab-sorb-'d, he heeded not

The death that threatened him. I could not shoot.

'Twas lib-erty. I turned my bow aside,

And let him soar away."