NOTE I. The ordinary direct address, not accompanied with strong emphasis, takes the rising inflection, on the principle of the pause of suspension. EXAMPLES. 1. Men', brethren, and fathers', hear ye my defense which I make pow unto you. 2. Ye living flowers', that skirt the eternal frost'! BIBLE. Utter forth GOD', and fill the hills with praise'! COLERIDGE. NOTE II.-In some instances of a pause of suspension, the sense requires an intense falling inflection. EXAMPLE. 1. The prodigal, if he does not become a pauper', will, at least, have but little to bestow on others. REMARK.-If the rising inflection is given on pauper, the sense would be perverted, and the passage made to mean, that, in order to be able to bestow on others, it is necessary that he should become a pauper. RULE VI. Expressions of tenderness, as of grief, or kindness, commonly incline the voice to the rising inflection. 1. EXAMPLES. Mother',-I leave thy dwelling'; Oh! shall it be forever'? With grief my heart is swelling', From thee',-from thee',-to sever'. 2. O my son Absalom! my son', my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee', Absalom', my son', my son'! BIBLE RULE VII. The Penultimate Pause, or the last but one, of a passage, is usually preceded by the rising inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. Diligence, industry', and proper improvement of time', are material duties of the young.' 2. These through faith subdued kingdoms', wrought righteousness', obtained promises', stopped the mouths of lions', quenched the violence of fire', escaped the edge of the sword', out of weakness were made strong', waxed valiant in fight', turned to flight the armies of the aliens'. REMARK.-The rising inflection is employed at the penultimate pause in order to promote variety, since the voice generally falls at the end of a sentence. RULE VIII. Expressions of strong emotion, as of anger or surprise, and also the language of authority and reproach, are expressed with the falling inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. On You', and on your CHILDREN, be the peril of the innocent blood which shall be shed this day'. 2. What a piece of workmanship is MAN! How noble in REASON'! How infinite in FACULTIES! 3. O FOOLS! and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written concerning me! 4. HENCE, HOME', you idle creatures', GET YOU Home', BIBLE. YOU BLOCKS, YOU STONES', YOU WORSE THAN USELESS THINGS'! 5. Avaunt! and quit my sight'! let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless; thou hast no speculation in thine eyes which thou dost glare' with. 6. SHAKSPEARE. Slave, do thy office! Strike, as I struck the foe'! ID, RULE IX. An emphatic succession of particulars, and emphatic repetition, require the falling inflection. 1. EXAMPLES. Beware what earth calls happiness; BEWARE All joys but joys that never can expire'. 2. A great mind', a great heart', a great orator', a great career', have been consigned to history'. BUTLER. REMARK.-The stress of voice on each successive particular, or repetition, should gradually be increased as the subject advances. The CIRCUMFLEX is a union of the two inflections on the same word, beginning either with the falling and ending with the rising, or with the rising and ending me I shall go to with the falling; as, If he goes to Pa The circumflex is mainly employed in the language of irony, and in expressing ideas implying some condition, either expressed or understood. EXAMPLES. 1. You, a beardless youth, pretend to teach a British general. 2. What! shear a wolf? a prowling wolf? 8. My father's trade? ah, really, that's too bad! My father's trade? Why, blockhead, are you mad? He was a gentleman, I'd have you know. 4. What! confer a crown on the author of the public calamities? 5. But you are very wise men, and deeply learned in the truth; wě are weak, contemptible, mean persons. 6. They pretend they come to improve our stăte, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from ĕrror. 7. But youth, it seems, is not my only crime; I have been accused of acting a theatrical part. 8. And this man has become a god and Cassius a wretched creature. SECTION IV. MODULATION. MODULATION implies those variations of the voice, heard in reading or speaking, which are prompted by the feelings and emotions that the subject inspires. FULL MIDDLE SHORT AND QUICK. HIGH LOUD. QUICK, AND VERY LOUD. EXAMPLES. EXPRESSIVE OF COURAGE AND CHIVALROUS EXCITEMENT. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, {or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof! CRY-HEAVEN FOR HARRY! ENGLAND! AND ST. GEORGE! SHAKSPEARE. REMARK. To read the foregoing example in one dull, monotonous tone of voice, without regard to the sentiment expressed, would render the passage extremely insipid and lifeless. But by a proper modulation of the voice, it infuses into the mind of the reader or hearer the most animating and exciting emotions. The voice is modulated in three different ways. First, it is varied in PITCH; that is, from high to low tones, and the reverse. Secondly, it is varied in QUANTITY, or in loudness or volume of sound. Thirdly, it is varied in QUALITY, or in the kind of sound expressed. PITCH OF VOICE. PITCH OF VOICE has reference to its degree of ele◄ vation. Every person, in reading or speaking, assumes a certain pitch, which may be either high or low, according to circumstances, and which has a governing influence on the variations of the voice, above and below it. This degree of elevation is usually called the KEY NOTE. As an exercise in varying the voice in pitch, the practice of uttering a sentence on the several degrees of elevation, as represented in the following scale, will be found beneficial. First, utter the musical syllables, then the vowel sound, and lastly, the proposed sentence,-ascending and descending. 5. sol -8.-do-e-in-me.-Virtue alone survvies. 7. sii in die. Virtue alone survives. 3. mi -2.-re 1. do Although the voice is capable of as many variations in speaking, as are marked on the musical scale, yet for all the purposes of ordinary elocution, it will be sufficiently exact if we make but three degrees of variation, viz., the Low, the Middle, and the High. 1. THE LOW PITCH is that which falls below the usual speaking key, and is employed in expressing emotions of sublimity, awe, and reverence. EXAMPLE. Silence, how dead! darkness, how profound! Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause,— YOUNG |