EXAMPLES: I. SICKNESS. Intermittent Stress, Subdued Force, Oral, Aspirate Quality, Effusive Form. [From "Death of Little Jim."--Anon.] Mother, the angels do so smile, and beckon little Jim. . I have no pain, dear mother, now, but O, I am so dry! II. FEEBLENESS. Intermittent Stress, Moderate Force, Pectoral Quality, Expulsive Form. [From "The Old Man's Request."-Thomas Moss.] Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door, O give relief! and Heaven will bless your store! III. AGE AND EXHAUSTION. Intermittent Stress, Energetic Force, Pectoral and Guttural Quality, Expulsive Form. [From "Death of Baron Rudiger."—Green.] They come around me here, and say My days of life are o'er, That I shall mount my noble steed And lead my band no more; They come, and to my beard they dare To tell me now that I, Their own liege lord and master born, The intermittent stress gives a vivid and touching expression to utterance, for the absence of which nothing can atone. "Without its appeal to sympathy, and its peculiar power over the heart, many of the most beautiful and touching passages of Shakspeare and Milton become dry and cold." SECTION XXV. PITCH. Pitch is the place upon the musical scale on which the sound is uttered. Every sound, whether produced by the vocal organs, or by other means, is found somewhere on this musical scale. Thus we speak of the low notes of the organ, the high notes of the fife; of the low tones of the male voice, the high tones of the female voice. Excellence in reading and speaking requires so perfect control of the different divisions of pitch that at pleasure the voice can be raised or lowered according to the feeling or emotion uttered. The Author of our being has so attuned the sensibilities of the soul that certain notes of voice indicate certain emotions. A low, subdued tone heard from an adjoining room suggests devotion; while a high pitch as naturally suggests a joyous conversation or angry dispute. In singing, the divisions of pitch are absolute. Two persons singing the same tune, however widely different their natural pitch of voice, use precisely the same key. In Elocution the divisions of pitch are relative. persons may read the same selection on widely different keys, yet each be entirely appropriate. Two In singing, the key is determined by musical instruments, in which there is comparatively little variation. In Elocution the key appropriate for each person is determined by his own voice. Students of Elocution make no greater mistake than in attempting to regulate their pitch of voice by that of some favorite teacher or speaker. Many teachers of Elocution injure the majority of their pupils by impressing them with the idea that their peculiar pitch is the only true standard. Not unfrequently do students indicate where they have been educated by their ridiculous efforts to conform a voice naturally of a high pitch to the low key of their instructor. It cannot be too earnestly impressed upon the minds of pupils that each voice is its own index in pitch. The divisions of Pitch in Elocution are Very High, High, Middle, Low, Very Low. These divisions should. include a compass of at least two octaves, but have no definite position on the musical scale, varying according to the natural key of the different voices. That key upon which each person naturally strikes in ordinary unimpassioned conversation will be his Middle Pitch. This will vary three or five notes. From this Middle Pitch all other divisions are to be determined. The Low Pitch will be three, four, or five notes below the Middle. The Very Low will be two, three, or four notes below the Low; the range in the lower notes being much less than in the high notes. The High Pitch will be five, six, or eight notes above the Middle; the Very High will be five or eight notes above the High. The above arrangement of the divisions of pitch is on the supposition that the compass of voice embraces from two and a half to three octaves. This is perhaps not far from the average, though the compass may be greatly increased by cultivation. It may be well here to remark that a knowledge of music is not essential in the practice of the following exercises, nor indeed to the highest excellence in elocution. It is a significant fact that those who have made the highest attainments in reading and speaking have been very deficient in musical cultivation. Indeed it will be found, by a careful investigation of the subjects, that, though reading and singing are not incompatible, they are by no means mutual helpers. Singing implies the passage of the voice through the discrete movement. Reading and speaking require the passage of the voice through the concrete movement. Persons who sing a great deal, when they attempt to glide into these musical intervals. ing constitutes one of the greatest beauties, namely, the discrete movement, in reading is the chief element of the defect known as tone, or singing-reading. read unconsciously That which in sing Singing may cultivate the voice, but it is exceedingly questionable if it improves the vocal delivery. Repeat the following elements and words several times, first in a Middle Pitch, then in a Low Pitch, then in a High Pitch, then in a Very Low, and last in a Very High Pitch. This exercise may be varied by beginning on a Very Low Pitch, and, on each repetition, raising the key two or three notes, until all the divisions have been passed The middle pitch is the appropriate key for the ue livery of narrative, didactic and descriptive thought in the form of scientific and literary lectures, introductions to speeches, orations and sermons. EXAMPLES: I. DIDACTIC THOUGHT. Middle Pitch, Radical Stress, Moderate Force, Pure Tone, Expulsive Form. [From "Cheerfulness."—Anon.] There is no one quality that so much attaches man to his fellowman as cheerfulness. Talents may excite more respect, and virtue more esteem; but the respect is apt to be distant and the esteem cold. It is far otherwise with cheerfulness. It endears a man to the heart, not the intellect or the imagination. There is a kind of reciprocal diffusiveness about this quality that recommends its possessor by the very effect it produces. There is a mellow radiance in the light it sheds on all social intercourse which pervades the soul to a depth that the blaze of intellect can never reach. II. DESCRIPTIVE THOUGHT. Middle Pitch, Radical Stress, Moderate Force, Pure Tone, Expulsive Form. [From "A Scene of Arab Life."—Anon.] All that has been related concerning the passion for tales, which distinguishes the Arabs, is literally true. During the night which we |