RIGHT AGAINST MIGHT. 193 to a sudden halt by what seemed a wall of steel. In vain did they strive to break through that forest of lances presented by the foe. Their best and bravest were flung back, bleeding, and almost in despair. Every moment their peril was increasing. The wings of the Austrian army gradually advanced, so as to form a part of a circle, which, completed, would place the heroic Swiss all within the very jaws of death. 7. Who shall stop the approaching ruin? Just as all seemed lost, Arnold Winkelried (ever honored be the name !), a native of Unterwalden, cried out, “I'll open a way for you! Take care of my wife and children! Switzerland forever! Make way for liberty!" Then, rushing upon the enemy, and "gathering, with a wide embrace, into his single heart, a sheaf of fatal Austrian spears," he made an opening, through which, with sword and ax, poured the impetuous Swiss. Nothing could withstand their fury. Leopold and his nobles were routed with terrific slaughter. Let James Montgomery describe the act of the martyr of liberty: "Make way for liberty!" he cried; Swift to the breach his comrades fly,- Rout, ruin, panic, seized them all. Thus Switzerland again was free; 194 NOTHING TO WEAR. LXXVIII. - NOTHING TO WEAR. WRITHE (rithe), v. i., to twist one's | TIN'SEL, n., a kind of shining cloth; self violently, as if in pain. RICK'ET-Y, a., affected with rickets; weak; imperfect. TRAPPINGS, n. pl., ornaments. any thing showy. PRE-TENSE or PRE-TENCE', n., a false show or claim. DIS-EN-CHANT', v. t., to free from spells. Avoid saying spere for sphere (sfere); cuss for curse; spile for spoil; relum for realm. In such words as helm, elm, chasm, &c., some speakers have a bad habit of introducing a decided vowel sound before the m. O! LADIES, dear ladies, the next sunny day Please trundle your hoops just out of Broadway, Have hunted their victims to gloom and despair. Grope through the dark dens, climb the rickety stair To the garret, where wretches, the young and the old, Half-starved, and half-naked, lie crouched from the cold! See those skeleton limbs, those frost-bitten feet, As you sicken and shudder and fly from the door; And, O! if perchance there should be a sphere SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION. 195 Must be clothed, for the life and the service above, LXXIX. SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION. VOL'U-BLE, a., fluent in words. RE-SPECTIVE, a., belonging to each; IN-GRATE' or IN'GRATE, a., unthankful. RE-TAL'I-ATE, v., to return like for Pronounce Cicero, Sis'e-ro. Do not say srill for shrill; helum for helm. Student. How shall we know what words we ought to make emphatic, in reading aloud? Professor. The only sure rule is this: Acquaint yourself fully with the meaning and spirit of what you have to utter, and then you will bestow your emphasis in a manner the best fitted to bring out that meaning and spirit. Stu. I readily comprehend the importance of that rule. If I ask you for the loan of your pencil, and you hand me your penknife, and I say, "No, it is your pencil I want," it is easy to see that I should lay the principal stress on the word pencil. Pro. Even so in reading; if you understand the language, you will be likely to lay the right stress upon the right words. Stu. I have been reading what Walker says on the modulation of the voice. -Pro. Walker is good authority. What does he say? How does he define the word? For Part I. see page 91. Stu. He says that modulation in speaking that agreeable variety of changes through w voice may be made to pass. The Latin word simply means to measure off properly; to reg Pro. Yes, the voice is capable of assum keys, or pitches, the high, the middle, and We use the high pitch in calling to a person tance; the middle, in ordinary conversation, we are now having; the low, when we wish hear except the person to whom we speak we would say something solemn or impress audience. Stu. Walker cautions us, however, that t ence between loud and high, and low and s ought to be well understood. We can spea or softer, and still continue the same pitch but we can not speak higher or lower withou the key. Pro. Let it be borne also in mind that it who speaks the loudest who can be heard the Very loud speakers are seldom heard to a Burke's voice is said to have been a sort of which marred the effect of what he uttere Chat'ham's lowest whisper was distinctly hear middle tones were sweet, rich, and beautifull Stu. I have seen it stated that musical not heard to a much greater distance than me however loud. Pro. We will devote the rest of this cor to the consideration of EXERCISES IN HIGH PI ing our illustrations from Shakspeare. though uncommon in level speaking or r appropriate to the delivery of passages wh excitement, anger, or indignation, is to be o SPECIAL EXERCISES IN ELOCUTION. "Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen! A thousand hearts are great within my bosom : 197 Stu. Do you remember the speech which Romeo atters, on encountering Tyb'alt, who has just slain Romeo's friend, Mercutio? Pro. Yes; it should be uttered in a high, but not in a very loud, key. Intense passion may sometimes be better expressed by suppressed tones than by a loud, voluble enunciation. Stu. That agrees with what Walker says: "The tones which mark the passions and emotions of the speaker are entirely independent of the modulation of the voice, though often confounded with it; for modu lation relates only to speaking either loudly or softly, in a high or a low key; while the tones of the passions or emotions mean only that quality of sound that indicates the feelings of the speaker, without any reference to the pitch or loudness of his voice." But how are we to acquire that peculiar quality of sound that indi cates the passions we wish to express? Pro. The answer is easy: by feeling the passion which expresses itself by that peculiar quality of sound. Stu. But how are we to acquire a feeling of the passion? Pro. The advice of Cicero is this: "Represent to your imagination, in the most lively manner possible, all the most striking circumstances of the transaction you describe, or of the passion you wish to feel." What are the circumstances in Romeo's case? |