I've mailed it with the thunder when the tempest muttered low,
And where it falls ye well may dread the lightning of its blow.
I've scared you in the city; I've scalped you on the plain;
Go, count your chosen where they fell beneath my leaden rain!
I scorn your proffered treaty; the pale face I defy;

Revenge is stamped upon my spear, and "blood" my battle-cry!

Perfect command of every degree of force enables the public speaker to readily adapt his tones to the senti ment he expresses, and to the circumstances by which he is surrounded.

Expressing pathos, his voice easily drops to subdued force; uttering bold and rousing thought, it as readily rises to impassioned force; in the delivery of didactic thought, it is pleasingly modulated to moderate force; speaking in a small room, the degree of force is so regulated as not to be painful to the hearers; addressing a vast assembly in the open air, the voice is perfectly audible to the most distant hearer; speaking under the influence of strong excitement, the intensity of his feelings does not hinder his utterance, nor drive him into ranting and vociferation.

Such are some of the advantages of perfect command of Force of Voice.

Exercises similar to the above not only give vigor and pliancy to the vocal organs, but are invaluable aids to health, cheerfulness, and mental activity.

SECTION XVIII.

STRESS.

Stress is the application of the force of the voice to

the different parts of the word or sound.

The divisions of stress are Radical, Median, Final, Compound, Thorough, and Intermittent.

SECTION XIX.

RADICAL STRESS.

Radical stress is the application of the force of the voice to the first part of the word or sound. "The clear and forcible radical stress can take place only after an interruption of the voice.”

"It would seem as if there is some momentary occlusion in the larynx, by which the breath is barred and accumulated for the purpose of a full and sudden discharge. This occlusion is most under command, and the explosion is most powerful, on syllables beginning with a tonic element, or with an abrupt one preceding a tonic, for in this last case an obstruction in the organs of articulation is combined with the function of the larynx."

To acquire control of this style of stress practice the following elements and words in the Expulsive and Explosive Forms, first with Pure Tone, then with Orotund, in the Moderate, Energetic and Impassioned degree of Force.

In this exercise be careful to expend the full force of the voice upon the first part of the word or sound.

The radical stress is heard in various degrees. In its milder form it is the stress appropriate for the delivery of narrative, descriptive and didactic thought in the style of essays, lectures and sermons; in a more energetic form it is appropriate for the utterance of argumentative speeches and orations; and in its most impassioned form for the expression of intense feeling and emotion, as anger, scorn, defiance, etc.

EXAMPLES: I. NARRATIVE.

Radical Stress, Moderate Force, Pure Tone, Expulsive Form.
[From "The Heart's Charity."-Eliza Cook.]

A rich man walked abroad one day,

And a poor man walked the self-same way,
When a pale and starving face came by,
With a pallid lip and a hopeless eye;
And that starving face presumed to stand
And ask for bread from the rich man's hand.
But the rich man sullenly looked askance,
With a gathering frown and a doubtful glance;
"I have nothing," said he, "to give to you,
Nor any such rogue of a canting crew;"
And he fastened his pocket, and on he went,

With his soul untouched and his conscience content.

II. DIDACTIC.

Radical Stress, Moderate Force, Pure Tone, Expulsive Form.
[From "Advice to a Young Lawyer."-Judge Story.]
Whene'er you speak, remember every cause
Stands not on eloquence, but stands on laws;

Pregnant in matter, in expression brief,

Let every sentence stand with bold relief;

On trifling points nor time nor talents waste,

A sad offense to learning and to taste;

Nor deal with pompous phrase, nor e'er suppose.
Poetic flights belong to reasoning prose.

III. ARGUMENTATIVE SPEECH.

Radical Stress, Energetic Force, Orotund, Expulsive Form.

[From "Barbarity of National Hatreds."—Rufus Choate.]

Mr. President, let me say that, in my judgment, this notion of a national enmity of feeling toward Great Britain belongs to a past age of our history. My younger countrymen are unconscious of it. They disavow it. That generation in whose opinions and feelings the actions and the destiny of the next are unfolded, as the tree in the germ, do not at all comprehend your meaning, nor your fears, nor your regrets. We are born to happier feelings. We look to England as we look to France. We look to them from our new world-not unrenowned, yet a new world still-and the blood mounts to our cheeks, our eyes swim, our voices are stifled, with emulousness of so much glory; their trophies will not let us sleep; but there is no hatred at all; no hatred, no barbarian memory of wrongs, for which brave men have made the last expiation to the brave.

IV. ANGER, SCORN AND DEFIANCE.

Radical Stress, Impassioned Force, Aspirate, Orotund, Guttural Quality, Explosive Form.

[From "Paradise Lost."-Milton.]

Whence and what art thou, execrable shape!
That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates? Through them I mean to pass,
That be assured, without leave asked of thee:
Retire or taste thy folly, and learn by proof,
Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of heaven.

Radical stress is one of the most important properties of utterance. Without it reading and speaking become dull and lifeless.

The argumentative speaker who has not this property at command fails to produce conviction in the minds of his hearers.

Dr. Rush says of the Radical Stress: "It is this which draws the cutting edge of words across the ear, and startles even stupor into attention; this which les sens the fatigue of listening, and outvoices the stir and rustle of an assembly."

Murdoch and Russell say: "The utter absence of radical stress bespeaks timidity and indecision, confusion of thought, and feebleness of purpose.

"The speaker who fails in regard to the effect of this property of utterance solicits our pity rather than commands our respect. The right degree of this function indicates the manly, self-possessed speaker."

SECTION XX.

MEDIAN STRESS.

Median stress is the application of the force of the voice to the middle of the word or sound.

It is a gradual increase of force and elevation of pitch through the concrete movement to the middle of the word, and then as gradual a diminution and lowering to the close. Median stress is generally heard in connection with the effusive form.

To acquire control of this style of stress practice the following elements and words, beginning each with very subdued force and low pitch, which gradually increase and elevate to the middle, and then as gradually dimin ish and lower.

MEDIAN STRESS--FIRST EXERCISE,

1. a, as heard in ale, fate.