THOUGHT IN EXPRESSION

1. All good reading and speaking implies not only a right rendering of the feeling, but also a recognition of the true groups-Grouping or Phrasing, and an appreciation of Prominence.

2. Group the Words That Make an Idea.-In speaking naturally words fall into groups. Thus: "If it is wet there will be no meeting." Here "If it is wet" is one group, “there will be no meeting" is another. To say "If it is wet there” would confuse the listener, and any other arrangement but the one given would also confuse. Grouping helps to make clear the meaning.

3. Give Prominence to the Words That So Treated Make the Important Idea Stand Out.-In speaking naturally that which is important receives such utterance as to make it prominent. In "It is not only hot but red hot" we make the first "hot" and "red" prominent because so treated they bring out the main idea.

As a rule, prominence is given to the word or words that contain the new idea, the words containing the old idea being delivered as if in parenthesis. Thus in our example the first "hot" is a new idea and is given prominence. The second "hot," being an old idea, is delivered parenthetically.

In the following sentence the main ideas desired to be conveyed to the listener are, that "Belshazzar . . . made a great feast," "and drank wine," and these words, therefore, constitute the groups demanding prominence, the subsidiary groups being "the king," "to a thousand of his lords" and "before the thousand." The words connected by hyphens

make up the group-word, and are to be delivered as if one polysyllabic word, with the emphasis on the accented syllable of the emphatic word:

Belshazzar

(the-king) - made-a-great-feast-(to-a-thousand-of-his-lords)-and-drank-wine-(before-the-thousand).

EXERCISE.

In the selection that follows,

a. Indicate the groups.

b. Indicate the words or groups that demand prominence in delivery.

c. Read aloud with careful regard to grouping and promi

nence.

BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.

Daniel v.

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank in them.

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone. In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw part of the hand that wrote.

Then the king's countenance was changed in him, and his

thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers. The king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon: "Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom." Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation.

Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed.

Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house. The queen spake and said: "O king, live forever; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father; the king, I say, thy father. made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans and soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and know!edge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation."

Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spake and said unto Daniel: "Art thou that Daniel which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king. my father, brought out of Judah? I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known unto

me the interpretation thereof; but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing. But I have heard of thee that thou canst give interpretations and dissolve doubts; now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the kingdom."

Then Daniel answered and said before the king: "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless, I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty; and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would, he slew, and whom he would, he kept alive; and whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he put down. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened, that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him; and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that He setteth up over it whomsoever He will. And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, although thou knowest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. Then was the part of the hand sent from

before Him, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it; TEKEL, thou art weighed in the balances and are found wanting; PERES, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. In that night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain, and Darius, the Mede, received the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.