VOICE-HEALTH. 359 lables and words, according to their relative value. Some speakers are so careful to secure a distinct articulation that the least valuable syllables have too much attention. The pronunciation becomes artificial and offensive. It attracts the attention of the hearer as peculiarly precise, and thus defeats its own end. It is the height of art to conceal art. The best pronunciation, like the best style, is that which, like the best window glass, is least noticed. But rapid utterance should never be attempted till correct utterance is perfectly mastered. Every speaker should be able, at will, to speak with great rapidity, or to speak gracefully, very slowly. The rate of speaking varies from about eighty to one hundred and fifty words, on the average, in a minute. Where the thought is easily apprehended and the feelings are excited, there are instances in which the highest effect requires that the words should be poured out in a torrent. In some instances the utterances should be slow, and with long pauses between. 11. Range of Voice.-The mechanical part of Elocution requires also a wide range of voice, both in loudness and in pitch. 12. Good Health required.-In this respect much depends on the physical constitution. No occupation more requires good health than public speaking. The lungs and throat will not usually be healthy and strong unless the whole bodily system is vigorous. The simple exertion of standing an hour or two is not small; but when to this are added the rapid and almost incessant articulation of words, in various degrees of loudness, and with various tones of voice, and the gestures or movements of body which the expression of thought and emotion suggests and requires, and the exercise of the brain and the nerves which they demand, we see that good sound health is essential. Public speakers can not keep themselves in proper condition without obedience to the laws of life in food, and clothing, and exercise. There are innate peculiarities of voice that can not be overcome by training. A tenor voice, for instance, can not be transformed into a bass voice, nor the contrary. No one should seek to change his constitutional peculiarities. Oratory is possible with any voice that can be heard by a sufficient number. If smooth, melodious voices have at first an advantage, a rough voice may be so modulated that all disagreeable impressions from it may disappear, and it is likely, when well trained, to excel a naturally smooth voice in compass. But every speaker may, by appropriate and persevering exercise, increase the range and volume of sound under his command, and also the power to make precise and nice distinctions of tone, appropriate to the various shades of thought and the kind and degrees of feeling. 13. Adaptation of Voice.—A public speaker should adapt the amount of voice, and somewhat the distinctness of articulation, to the requirements of the occasion. It betrays an intentional rudeness, or a want of sound sense, for a speaker to address an assembly so as not to be distinctly heard. Many preachers betray their want of training, if not of good judgment, or po TOO LOUD A VOICE. 361 liteness, by beginning their speaking, or reading, or even public prayers, in so low a voice that many in the assembly might as well be elsewhere. All such persons insult a large part of the assembly, unless their voice is too feeble to reach them, in which case selfrespect should compel them to refuse to speak. Of course, it is an exception to this rule when the congregation is too large to be reached by a good voice, or, as is often the case in court, when the speaker intends to be heard only by those in his immediate vicinity. This requirement of good sense is violated so often that students of Elocution should give it especial attention. All persons who are invited to listen to a public speaker have a right to expect that every word will be uttered with sufficient distinctness and power to be heard by every one of average ability to hear and understand; and a failure to accomplish this shows the speaker not only to be incompetent for his place, but impertinent. 14. Too loud a Voice.-The opposite extreme of too loud a voice is not uncommon. The consequences are evil to the speaker, and unpleasant to the hearers. Uniform or protracted loudness wearies the lungs, and unfits the throat for nice variations of tone. It is an effort which nature intends should be made only rarely and briefly. It degenerates usually, if prolonged, into a falsetto screech, or a howl. Only undiscriminating speakers make the mistake of supposing that a very loud sound is needed for the greatest effect. Deep passion seldom so exhibits itself. The engine when most noisy is not accomplishing the most work. Q 15. A Natural Manner.-A speaker, to avoid weariness and the injurious effects of vicious speaking, should express himself naturally, that is to say, with the same kind of variety in the pitch and tone of voice which the most of sensible persons use in good conversation. "Speaking with a tone," as it is often termed, usually consists of the constant and frequent recurrence of the same note in the scale, or the same succession of two or three notes. If the vowel sounds are drawn out a little more than is common, the speaker seems to sing. Sometimes this peculiarity becomes a nasal twang. The misfortune is that few who have these evil habits are aware of it, and that they can not overcome them but by the most assiduous effort. A tone rather betokens hypocrisy than genuine feeling. Men seldom use it when off their guard and deeply in earnest. 16. Monotony should be Avoided.-Speaking on the same key of voice will be likely to break down the strongest throat, sooner or later. A man with this habit becomes more weary from one hour's effort, than he would from six hours' steady speaking if he varied the tone of his voice sufficiently often. A man can work ten hours if he has the usual variety of muscular exercise, with less fatigue than would follow from making one simple motion of the arms incessantly for one hour. Speakers should therefore habituate themselves to several distinct pitches of voice, from low to high, and the various degrees of loudness and of rapidity of utterance. 17. Proper Inflation of the Lungs.--Let the lungs always be fully inflated with air at the beginning of a FULL LUNGS-PRONUNCIATION. 363 long sentence, and as far as possible keep them all the time inflated. This practical direction is of great value to speakers. In an expiration the lungs are never entirely emptied, but they may be so nearly so that it is impossible to speak easily and loud. In such a case the muscles of the throat and the upper part of the chest do all the work. The result is exhaustion and, often, bronchitis. But let the lungs be full, let the position be erect, and let the speaker pause frequently enough to inflate his lungs fully-not usually through the mouth, but through the nostrils-and the voice comes out easily, the whole chest plays, and the abdominal muscles, as a kind of reserved force, assist the lungs in time of need; and thus a man, with suitable variations of tone and rapidity, can address a thousand people for several hours without bodily weariness, and repeat the exercise daily without harm. Speak naturally, variously, and with fully expanded lungs, thus using the abdominal muscles, and so far from producing bronchitis, public speaking will be found to be its most efficient preventive, and even remedy. This should not be called "preachers' sore throat," but "poor speakers' sore throat." 18. A Correct Pronunciation.-It seems almost superfluous to call attention to correctness of pronunciation, as one of the mechanical elements of Elocution. Sometimes, but rarely, does a mispronunciation of a word-an error in accent or in the sound of a syllable -mislead the hearer, but it always betokens that the speaker is ignorant of the right way. If one pronounces many words incorrectly he will be regarded as an |