should daily practise to read, and repeat in a large room in the hearing of a friend. His friend should be placed at first, at such a distance as he may be able to reach in his usual manner; the distance is then gradually to be encreased, till he shall be so far from him, that he cannot be heard beyond him without straining. There should his friend hear the most part of his declamation. And through this practice should he proceed step by step daily; by which he may be enabled to unfold his organs, and regularly encrease the quantity and strength of his voice. Perhaps the same practice might more easily and effectually be made in the open air, as every speaker cannot conveniently obtain the use of a room of the requisite dimensions.

4. Mr. Walker's rules for strengthening the voice are excellent and practicable; they are his 4th, 5th, and 6th rules to which I beg to refer the reader. The general principle is this,—that in order to strengthen the higher tones of the voice, such passages should be practised as require the high tones. These are particularly a succession of questions ending with the rising inflexion. For the middle tones, passionate speeches requiring them should be practised; and for bringing down the voice, (which is apt to run wild, and not to be in our power when long continued above,)" the succeeding sentence is to be begun (if the subject admit), and delivered in a lower tone. His example for this last praxis is that of Posthumus already mentioned.

13 Deinde quicquid dicunt, tanta voce tantaque contentione spiritus pronuntiant, ut ægrè postea submittere, et in exilem sonum deflectere possint. Sed vox semel incitata, quasi effrænus Numidarum equus ruit, et nulla moderatione temperatur. Caussinus de Eloquentia sacra et profaná, l. ix. c. 4.

MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE.

1. The first principles of the proper management of the voice depend on due attention to articulation, pronunciation, accent, emphasis, pauses, and tones, these have been already treated of in the former chapter. Quintilian, says it is useful to get by heart what is designed for the exercise of the voice."

2. The actual practice of the various inflexions and pauses; of the pitch and the tones to be adopted, should take place previous to the public delivery of a written oration.

3. When time or opportunity do not permit this practice, the manner in which the voice should be managed in the different parts of the oration, should be considered and determined. This practice was not unknown to the ancients, it was called the silent preparation of the voice." A celebrated actress of our times,

14 Ediscere autem, quo exercearis, erit optimum (nam extempore dicenti avocatur cura vocis ille, qui ex rebus ipsis concipitur, affectus) et ediscere quam maxime varia, quæ et clamorem, et disputationem, et sermonem, et flexus habeant, ut simul in omnia paremur. Quint. l. xi. c. 3.

15 Cresollius illustrates this subject by a story from Plutarch, which he declares he had heard attested by many both Romans and Greeks. A barber at Rome had a magpie which afforded him and the neighbourhood great amusement by its imitative garrulity and songs. It happened that the funeral of a wealthy citizen stopped in procession near the barber's shop, and a solemn concert of trumpets was performed. The magpie for three days after this remained in profound silence: so that his master thought he had been stunned by the noise of those brazen instruments, and feared that he had lost all his talents and his voice. But after his long silence, to the admiration of every one, he imitated with incredible elegance, and correctness, the sounds and the modulations of the whole concert. "So that the cause "of his three days silence, was the exercise and meditation within himself of his talent of "imitation, and his tuning and adapting his voice, like a musical instrument." This last sentence is literally translated from Plutarch. The passage in the original is as follows: Κουρεὺς γὰρ τις ἐργαςήριον ἔχων Ῥώμη πρὸ τὲ τεμένους ὃ καλᾶσιν Ἑλλήνων ἀγορὰν,

is said to prepare herself only by this sort of meditation; yet no voice can excel her's in pathos, variety, and effect.

4. The difficulty of pitching the voice is very considerable, particularly in a room or situation to which the speaker is not accustomed. And as it is found easier to ascend than to lower the pitch, it is a general rule that a speaker should begin rather under the ordinary pitch of his voice than above it.

5. As the middle pitch of the voice admits of ascending or descending freely, and is therefore favourable to ease and variety, and as the organs in this pitch are stronger from practice; every speaker should endeavour to deliver the principal part of his discourse in the middle pitch of his voice. This pitch to each voice will be found to be nearly that used in common discourse, when we address ourselves to each other, at the distance perhaps

θαυμαςόν τι χρῆμα πολυφώνε καὶ πολυφθόγλου κίτζης ἔτρεφε, καὶ ἀνθρώπου ῥήματα καὶ θηρείας φθίγδες ἀνταπεδίδε, καὶ ψόφους ὀργάνων, μηδενὸς ἀναγκάζοντος, ἀλλ ̓ αυτὴν ἐθίζεσα, καὶ φιλοτιμημένη μηδὲν ἄῤῥητον απολιπεῖν, μηδὲ ἀμίμητον· ἔτυχε δὲ τις ἐκείνῃ τῶν πλεσίων ἐκκομιζόμενος ὑπὸ σάλπιγξι πολλᾶις, καὶ γενομένης (ὥσπερ ἔιωθεν) κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐπιςάσεως, ευδοκιμουντες οι σαλπιγκται καὶ κελευόμενοι, πολὺν χρόνον ἐνδιέτριψαν: ἡ δὲ κίτζα μετὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἄφθογῖος ἦν καὶ ἄναυδος ; ἐδὲ τὴν αυτῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις πάθεσιν ἀφιεῖσα φωνὴν· τοῖς δυν πρότερον αυτῆς θαυμάζεσι τὴν φωνὴν, τότε θαῦμα μείζον ἡ σιωπὴ παρείχε κωφὸν ἀκρόαμα τοῖς συνήθως παροδεύεσι τὸν τόπον. ὑποψίαι δὲ φαρμάκων ἐπὶ τὰς ὁμοτέχνες ἦσαν. Οι δὲ πλέιςοι τὰς σάλπιγίας εἴκαζον ἐκπλῆξαι τὴν ἀκοὴν, τῇ δ ̓ ἀκοῇ συΓκατεσβέσθαι τὴν φωνὴν· ἦν δὲ ἐδέτερα τέτων, ἀλλ ̓ ἄσκησις (ὡς ἔοικε) καὶ ἀναχώρησις εις ἑαυτὸ τὸ μιμητικό, καθάπερ ὄργανον ἐξαρτυομένα τὴν φωνὴν καὶ παρασκευάζοντος· ἄφνω γὰρ ἄνθις ἧκε καὶ ἀνέλαμψεν, ἐδὲν τῶν συνήθων καὶ παλαιῶν μιμημάτων ἐκείνων ἀλλὰ τὰ μήλη τῶν σαλπίγίων αυταῖς περιόδοις φθείγου μένη, καὶ μεταβολὰς πάσας καὶ κρεμάτων δεξιοῦσα πάντας ρυθμός. Plut. de Solertia Animalium

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of 12 or 15 feet in ordinary rooms: at which time the voice is fully given out, but without effort.16-17 Instead of the middle pitch, this manner of giving out the voice might possibly be named with advantage the ordinary pitch. This is a more intelligible appellation to the inexperienced speaker, and therefore he would fall into it without difficulty, and deliver himself 'naturally; and not think it necessary to seek for some unpractised tones, which might lead him into error and affectation.

The tones of the speaking voice ascending from the lowest to the highest, may conveniently be considered in the following series:

1. A whisper-audible only by the nearest person.

2. The low speaking tone or mumur-suited to close conversation. 3. The ordinary pitch or middle-suited to general conversation. 4. The elevated pitch-used in earnest argument.

5. The extreme-used in violent passion."

16 In omni voce est quiddam medium, sed suum cuique voci. Hinc gradatim ascendere vocem utile et suave est. Nam a principio clamare, agreste quiddam est, et illud idem ad firmandum est vocem salutare. Deinde est quiddam contentionis extremum, quod tamen inferius est quam acutissimus clamor . . . . . . Est item contra quiddam in remissione gravissimum, quòque tanquam sonorum gradibus descenditur. Hæc varietas et hic per omnes sonos vocis cursus, et se tuebitur, et actioni afferret suavitatem. Cic. de Orat. l. iii. c. 61.

17 Neque gravissimus ut in musica sonus nec acutissimus orationibus convenit. Nam vox, ut nervi, quo remissior, hoc et gravior et plenior: quo tensior hoc tenuis et acuta magis est. Sic ima vim non habet, summa rumpi periclitat ur. Mediis igitur utendum sonis; hique, cum augenda intentio est, excitandı; cum summittenda, sunt temperandi. Quint. I. xi. c. 3.

18 From the ordinary pitch to the extreme Cresollius reckons also two tones, as I have mentioned.

Viri quidem sapientes. . . tres vocis principes commutationes esse dicunt (vocant tonos,) et primam quidem eorum esse propriam, qui communi et familiari sermone utuntur; alteram paulo majorem aptam ad cohortandum, consolandum, exorandum, et quoties leniores motus

These different states or pitches of the voice are sensibly distinct and separated from each other. They may be subject to variation, according to the quantity of voice necessary to be issued; from that, which in each case is used in speaking to one individual, to the quantity necessary to be given out in addressing a multitude. The whisper must however be excepted which is limited to a small circle, but is also variable in quantity, and may be addressed with considerable force to several within its reach. As if children were to be checked for disturbing an invalid who was asleep: the voice would not venture upon a murmur, but the whisper would be encreased in force.

The whisper differs from the lowest speaking tones in this respect that in the whisper, the voice is formed only within the mouth, of that quantity of air which is quietly supplied by the lungs as in breathing, and without bringing them or the throat into the action necessary for the utterance of the speaking voice. The lowest speaking tones require a sensible exertion of the lungs and throat; as may easily be proved by endeavouring to change from a whisper to the lowest murmur."

ciendi sunt: tertiam deinque vehementam et contentam qualis in amplificationibus esse solet. Jam industria boni et studiosi oratoris in eo posita est, ut frequenti usu discat, a primo illo gradu ad secundum, ab hoc ad tertium, facile vocem et suaviter attollere, tum ab illo acutissimo sono cum licuerit revocare. Quod quam vim habeat tum ad fidem faciendam, tum ad reficiendos animos audientium, ingenuosus quilibet e corona percipit, et qui dicunt, si modo habeant decori sensum, et dignitatis, experiuntur. Cresol. Vac. Aut.

19 The theatrical whisper, or speaking aside, differs essentially from the whisper in private conversation, as Mr. Walker very ingeniously shews. It is to be referred to the murmur increased in quantity; and delivered without change of inflexion in the monotone. "It is "no very difficult matter to be loud in a high tone of voice; but to be loud and forcible in low tone, requires great practice and management; this however may be facilitated by "pronouncing forcibly at first in a low monotone; a monotone, though in a low key, and

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