Exercises on Time.

The 'slowest' and the quickest' rates of utterance, have been exemplified under the head of 'versatility' of voice, and need not be repeated here. They occur in the extremes of grave and gay emotion.

There are three important applications of time' in connexion with 'rate', or 6 movement', which frequently occur in the common forms of reading and speaking. These are the slow', the 'moderate', and the lively'. The first of these, the slow', is exhibited in the tones of awe, reverence, and solemnity, when these emotions are not so deep as to require the slowest movement of all: the second, the 'moderate', belongs to grave and serious expression, when not so deep as to require the slow' movement; it belongs, also, to all unempassioned communication, addressed to the understanding, more than to the feelings; and it is exemplified in the utterance of moderate, subdued, and chastened emotion : the third rate, the 'lively', is perhaps sufficiently indicated by its designation, as characterizing all animated, cheerful, and gay expression.

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All the exercises on time', should be repeated till they can be exemplified perfectly, and at once. Previous to practising the following exercises, the pupil may be aided in forining distinct and well-defined ideas of 'time', by turning back to the example under ' versatility', marked as 'very slow', and repeating it, with close attention to its extreme slowness. He will observe that, in the repeating of this example, the effect of 'time', or proportion of movement, is to cause a remarkable lengthening out of the sound of every accented vowel; an extreme slowness in the succession of the sounds of all letters, syllables, and words: and, along with all this, an unusual length in all the pauses. It is this adjustment of single and successive sounds and their intermissions, which properly constitutes the office of 'time' in elocution: although the term is often indefinitely used rather as synonymous with the word 'movement', as applied in music.

The 'slow' movement differs from the 'slowest', in not possessing the same extreme prolongation of sound in single vowels, or the same length of pause. The slow succession of sounds is, however, a common characteristic in both.

Example of Slow' Moviment.

"THOU, who did'st put to flight

Primeval silence, when the morning stars,
Exulting, shouted o'er the rising ball;

O Thou, whose word from solid darkness struck
That spark, the sun, strike wisdom from my soul!

'Moderate'.

"There is something nobly simple and pure in a taste for the cultivation of forest trees. It argues, I think, a sweet and generous nature, to have a strong relish for the beauties of vegetation, and a friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a grandeur of thought, connected with this part of rural economy. It is worthy of liberal, and freeborn, and aspiring men. He who plants an oak, looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. He cannot expect to sit in its shade, and enjoy its shelter; but he exults in the idea that the acorn which he has buried in the earth, shall grow up into a lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing, and increasing, and benefiting mankind, long after he shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields."

'Lively'.

"How does the water come down at Lodore?
Here it comes sparkling,
And there it lies darkling;
Here smoking and frothing,
Its tumult and wrath in,

It hastens along, conflicting and strong,
Now striking and raging,

As if a war waging,

Its caverns and rocks among,

Swelling and flinging,

Showering and springing,

Eddying and whisking,
Spouting and frisking,

Turning and twisting

Around and around,

Collecting, disjecting,

With endless rebound."

Vl.-APPROPRIATE PAUSES.

The grammatical punctuation of sentences, by which they are divided into clauses by commas, although sufficiently dis

tinct for the purpose of separating the syntactical portions of the structure, are not adequate to the object of marking al the audible pauses, which sense and feeling require, in read ing aloud. Hence we find, that intelligible and impressive reading depends on introducing many short rauses, not indi cated by commas or other points, but essential to the meaning of phrases and sentences. These shorter pauses are, for dis tinction's sake, termed 'rhetorical'.

Powerful emotion not unfrequently suggests another species of pause, adapted to the utterance of deep feeling. This pause sometimes takes place where there is no grammatical point used, and sometimes is added to give length to a grammatical pause. This pause may be termed the 'oratorical', or the pause of 'effect'.

Note. The length of the rhetorical pause depends on the length of the clause, or the significance of the word which follows it. The full rhetorical pause' is marked thus 1, the half rhetorical pause', thus |, and the short rhetorical pause', thus.

Rules for Rhetorical' Pauses.

The rhetorical' pause takes place, as follows:

RULE I. Before a verb, when the nominative is long, or when it is emphatic.-Ex. "Life | is short, and art || is long." RULE II. Before and after an intervening phrase.

Ex. "Talents without application

progress in learning."

are no security for

RULE III. Wherever transposition of phrases may take place. Ex. "Through dangers the most appalling | he advanced with heroic intrepidity."

RULE IV. Before an adjective following its noun.

Ex. "Hers was a soul I replete with every noble quality." RULE V. Before relative pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, or adverbs used conjunctively, when followed by a clause depending on them.-Ex. "A physician was called in Il who prescribed appropriate remedies." "The traveller be gan his journey in the highest spirits and with the most delightful anticipations.'

RULE VI. Where ellipsis, or omission of words, takes place. -Ex. "To your elders manifest becoming deference, to your companions | frankness, to your juniors I condescen

son."

RULE VII. Before a verb in the infinitive mood, governed by another verb.-Ex. "The general now commanded his reserved force to advance to the aid of the main body."

Exercise on Rhetorical Pauses.

"Industry is the guardian of innocence." "Honor is the subject of my story."

"The prodigal || lose many opportunities for doing good." Prosperity gains friends, adversity I tries them."

"Time once passed I never returns."

"He that hath no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." "Better is a dinner of herbs

stalled ox and hatred | therewith”.

where love | is, than a

"The veil which covers from our sight | the events of succeeding years, is a veil woven by the hand of mercy." "Blessed are the poor in spirit.'

"Silver and gold I have I none.'

"Mirth | I consider as an act, cheerfulness || as a habit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness II fixed and permanent. Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that glitters for a moment: cheerfulness | keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind."

"Some place the bliss in action, some l in ease:

Those call it pleasure, and contentment these."

The habitual tendency of young readers being to hurry, in reading, their pauses are liable to become too short for distinctness, or to be entirely omitted. In most of the above examples, the precision, beauty, and force of the sentiment, depend much on the careful observance of the rhetorical pauses. The teacher may impart an idea of their effect, by allowing each sentence to be read, first, without the rhetorical pauses,-secondly, with pauses made at wrong places,— thirdly, with the pausing as marked.

Rule on the Oratorical' Pause.

The 'oratorical' pause is introduced in those passages which express the deepest and most solemn emotions, such as naturally arrest and overpower, rather than inspire, utterExamples. "The sentence was-DEATH!" "There is one sure refuge for the oppressed, one sure resting-place for the weary,-THE GRAVE! [Application-See page 76.]

ance.

§ VII.-RIGHT EMPHASIS.

Emphasis distinguishes the most significant or expressive words of a sentence.

It properly includes several functions of voice, in addition to the element of force. An eriphatic word is not unfrequently distinguished by the peculiar 'time', 'pitch', 'stress', and inflection' of its accented sound. But all these properties are partially merged, to the ear, in the great comparative force of the sound. Hence it is customary to regard emphasis as merely special force. This view of the subject would not be practically incorrect, if it were understood as conveying the idea of a special force superadded to all the other characteristics of tone and emotion, in the word to which it applies.

Emphasis is either 'absolute' or 'relative'. The former occurs in the utterance of a single thought or feeling, of great energy: the latter, in the correspondence or contrast of two or more ideas.

'Absolute' emphasis is either empassioned' or 'distinctive'. The former expresses strong emotion.-Example. "False wizard, AVAUNT!"*-The latter designates objects to the attention, or distinguishes them to the understanding. -Ex. "The fall of man is the main subject of Milton's great poem."

'Relative' emphasis occurs in words which express comparison, correspondence, or contrast.-Example. " Cowards die many times; the brave, but once."

Rules on Emphasis.

RULE I. Exclamations and interjections usually require 'empassioned' emphasis, or the strongest force of utterance. Examples. "Woe ! to the traitor, WOE!"-"UP! comrades, UP!" "AWAKE! ARISE! or be for EVER FALLEN!" "Ye icefalls!

Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!

Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven,
Beneath the keen full moon ?—

* Three degrees of emphasis are usually thus denoted in type: the first, by Italic letters; the second, by small capitals; and the third, by large capitals. Thus, "You shall DIE, BASE DG! and that before yon cloud has passed over the sun!"-Sometimes a fourth, by Italic capstals, thus, "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!"