PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 430 STYLE. The character of a person's style f reading and speaking depends upon his moral perceptions of the ends, causes, and effects of the composition: thus, STYLE may be considered the man himself, and, as every one sees and feels, with regard to everything, according to the state or condition of his mind, and as there are and can be no two persons alike; each individual will have a manner and style peculiar to himself; tho in the main, that of two persons of equal education and intelligence, may be in a great degrec similar. 431. RULES FOR THE '. When questions are answered by yes or no, they generally require the '. Exs. Are you well? Is he gone? Have you got your hat? Do you say yes? Can he accommodate me? Will you call and see me? But when the questions are emphatic, or amount to an affirmative, the 'is used. A're you well? As much as to say: tell me whether you are well. Is he gone? Have you done it! All given in an authoritative manner. Hath he said it, and shall he not do it? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? Is he a man, that he should repènt? 432. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. Is the casket more valuable than the jewel? 2. Will not the safety of the community be endangered, by permitting the murderer to live? 3. Are theatres-beneficial to mankind? 4. Did Napolean do more hurt than good to the world? 5. Were the Texans right-in rebelling against Mexico? 6. Ought the license system to be abolished? 7. Is animal magnetism true? 8. Who was the greatest monster-Nero, or Catiline? 9. Should we act from policy, or from principle? 10. Is not the improvement of the mind, of the first importance? Nature. Manis radiant with expressions. Since trifles-make the sum of human things, Maxims. 1. It does not become a lavo-vraker, to become a law-breaker. 2. Friendship is stronger than kindred. 3. Idleness is the sepulchre of a Lv. ing man. 4. An orator, without judgment, is like a horse without a bridle. 5. He that knows when to of life is to know the life that never ends. 7 speak, knows when to be silent. 6. The truest end Anecdote. Note of Interrogation (?). Mr. Pope, the poet, who was small and de formed, sneering at the ignorance of a young man, who was very inquisitive, and asked a good many impertinent questions, inquired of him if he knew what an interrogation point was? "Yes sir," said he, "it is a little crooked thing, like yourself, that asks questions." Ideas, acquired by taste-are compound and relative. If a man had never experienced any change, in the sensation produced by external things, on the organs of taste, that which he now calls sweet, (if it had been the quality, subjected to the sense,) would have conveyed to the mind no possible idea; but, alternating with the quality we call bitter, contrariety-produces the first impression, and he learns to distinguish the qualitics by names. The sensation-awakened by Madeira wine, must be very acute, to enable a man to discriminate, accurately, without a very careful comparison. Let a particular kind of Madeira wine remain a few years on the lees of many other kinds, and who would detect the compound flavor, but the contriver? Varieties. 1. Inspire a child with right feelings, and they will govern his actions: hence, the truth of the old adage, Example is better than precept. 2. The great difficulty is, that we give rules, instead of inspiring sentiments; it is in vain to lead the understanding with rules, if the affections are not right. 3. Benjamin West states, that his mother kissed him, eagerly, when he showed her the likeness he had sketched of his baby sister; and, he adds, - that kiss made me a painter. 4. Lay by all scraps of material things, as well as of knowledge, and they will certainly come in use within seven years. 5. Gain all the information you can, learn all that comes in your way, without being intrusive, and provided it does not interfere with the faithful discharge of other duties. 6. It was a maxim of the great William Jones, never to lose an opportunity of learning anything. A wise man poor, Is like a sacred book, that's never read; 1 433. STYLE. The numerous examples Maxims. 1. Punctuality begets confidence, given throughout this work, afford the necessary means for illustrating all the principles of elocution: let the taste, and judgment, as well as the abilities of the student-be tested by a proper selection and application of them. He must not expect too much from others, nor take it unkindly, when thrown upon his own resources: the best way to increase our strength, is to have it often tested. All who become orators, must make themselves orators. 434. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. If we do well, shall we not be accepted? 2. Which is more useful, fire, or water? 3. Ought circumstantial evidence to be admitted in criminal cases? 4. Can we be too zealous in rightly promoting a good cause! 5. Which is worse, a bad education, or no education ? 6. Are not bigotry and intolerance-as destructive to morality, as they are to common sense? 7. Are we not apt to be proud of that which is not our own? 8. Ought there not to be duties on imported goods, to encourage domestic manufactures? 9. Is slavery right? 10. Have steamboats been the cause of more good than evil? 435. IGNORANCE AND ERROR. It is al most as difficult to make one unlearn his er rors, as to acquire knowledge. Mal-information is more hopeless than non-information; for error is always more busy than ignorance. Ignorance-is a blank sheet, on which we may write; but error-is a scribbled one, from which we must first erase. Ignorance-is contented to stand still, with her back to the truth; but error-is more presumptuous, and proceeds in the same direction. Ignorance has no light, but error follows a false one. The consequence is, that error, when she retraces her footsteps, has farther to go, before she can arrive at the truth, than ignorance. Anecdote. Virtue before Riches. The mistocles-had a daughter, to whom two men were wishing to make love; one was very rich, but a simpleton, and the other-poor, but a very wise man: the father preferred the latter, saying, "I would rather have a man without riches, than riches without a man." The primal duties-shine aloft. like stars; The charities, that soothe, and heal, and bless, Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers; The generous inclination, the just rule, Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts. No mystery is here; no special boon and is the sure road to honor and respæt. 2. A picture is a poem, without words. 3. Sensible men show their sense, by saying much in few words 4. He, who thinks to cheat another, cheats himself. 5. Pride is easily seen in others; but we rarely see it in ourselves. 6. Wealth is not his who gets it, but his who enjoys it. 7. A bad boo is one of the worst of thieves. 8. Toleration should spring from charity, not from indifference 9. 'Too much prosperity makes most men fools 10. He, who serves God, has the best master i the world. 11. One love drives another out. 12 Health is better than wealth. Influence. Few are aware of the full extent of meaning contained in this word. If we can measure the kind and quantity of influence, that every variety of heat and cold has on the world of matter; if we can tell the influence, that one individual has on another, one society on another, and one nation on another, both for time and eternity; if we can estimate the influence, that spir itual beings have on one another, and on the human race, collectively, and separately; also the influence of the Great Spirit on all creation, then, we are able to see and realize the mighty meaning of this important word. Contemplate and weigh the influence, that different kinds of food and drink have on the human system, by being appropriated to its innumerable parts; the influence on body and mind of keeping and violating the laws of life, by thinking feeling, and acting; the influence, which a good or bad person has on his associatesand also their influence on others, through all coming time, as well as in the eternal world, and you will perceive something of the importance of ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well; of living and practicing what is good and true, and thereby being saved from all that is evil and false. Varieties. 1. Lord Coke-wrote the fol lowing, which he religiously observed; "Six For high, and not for low; for proudly graced, Ponders this true equality, may walk The fields of earth-with gratitude and hope. Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines. the same in the world, in man, and in the church; man-is an epitome of all the prin ciples of order. 436. STYLE, &c. To accomplish your object, study the true meaning and character of the subject, so as to express the whole, in such a way as to be perfectly understood and felt: thus, you will transport your hearers to the scene you describe, and your earnestness raise them on the tiptoe of expectation, and your just arguments sweep everything before them like a MOUNTAIN torrent: to excite, to agitate, and delight, are among the most powerful arts of persuasion: but the impressions must be enforced on the mind by a command of all the sensibilities and sympathies of the soul. That your course may be ever upward and onward, remember, none but a GOOD man can be a perfect orator; uncorrupted and incorruptible integrity is one of the most powerful engines of persuasion. Maxims. 1. Revenge, however sweet, is dearly bought. 2. Life is half spent, before we know what it is to live. 3. The world is a workshop, and the wise only know how to use its tools. 4. A man is valued, as he makes himself valuabie. 5. Heaven is not to be had, merely by wishing for it. 6. As often as we do good, we sacrifice. 7. Be careful to keep your word, even in the most trifling matter. 8. Hearts may agree, tho' heads may dif fer. 9. Honest men are easily bound; but you can never bind a knave. 10. Experience keeps a lear school; but fools will learn in no other. Anecdote. Curious Patriotism. Some years ago, one of the convicts at Botany Bay, Truc patriots we: for, be it understood, Ignorance-Willfulness. The ignor ant-oppose without discrimination. Harvey, for asserting the circulation of the blood, was styled a vagabond, a quack; and persecuted, through life, by the medical profession. In the time of Francis I., Ambrose Pare-introduced the ligament, to staunch the blood of an amputated limb, instead of boiling hot pitch, in which the bleeding stump had formerly been dipped; and he was persecuted, with the most relentless rancour, by the Fa 437. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. Is any government-as important as the principles it should protect and extend? 2. Should we remain passive, when our country, or political rights are invaded? 3. Are banks beneficial? 4. Have the crusaders been the cause of more evil than good? 5. Was the war waged against the Seminoles of Florida, just? 6. Which is the more important acquisition, wealth, or knowledge? 7. Is there any neutral ground between good and evil, truth and falsehood? 8. Which should we fear most, the commission of a crime, or the fear of pun-culty, who ridiculed the idea of risking a ishment? 9. By binding the understanding, and forcing the judgment, can we mend the heart? 10. When proud people meet together, are they not always unhappy? 11. Is not common sense a very rare and valuable article? 12. What is the use of a body, without a soul? 438. MANNER AND MATTER. The secret of success in Music, as well as in Elocution, is, to adapt the manner perfectly to the matter: if the subject be simple, such must be the manner: if it be gay and lively, or solemn and dignified, such, or such must be the manner in addition to which, the performer must forget himself, or rather lose himself in man's life upon a thread, when boiling pitch had stood the test for centuries. Medicines have been proscribed as poison, and then prescribed in great quantities; the proscriptions and prescriptions being both adopted with equal ignorance and credulity. There is no hope for man, but a thorough and correct education in the school of truth and goodness. Varieties. 1. Does the nature of things depend on the matter, of which they are formed; or on the laws of constitution, by which matter is arranged? 2. Is not vegetable matter formed from oxygen and hydro gen; and animal matter from these two and carbon? But what are their constituent the subject, body and soul, and show his re-parts? Were their essences created, or are gard to his audience, by devoting himself to But sure to foreign climes-we need not range, But spare, O Time! whate'er of mental grace, bate'er of fancy's ray, or frierulship's tame is mine. 11 they eternal? 3. What large portions of the world there are of which we know compara. tively nothing! and although we are familiar with our bodies, externally, yet how little of their internals do even the best physiologists know? 4. How much is really known of the nature of mind? and yet there is presumption enough in some, to decide at once, upon all the phenomena of the mind, and prescribe its limits. 5. Thus, man clothes himself with his fanciful knowledge, and plays such insane tricks before the world. make the angels weep. The fisher-is out on the suuny And the reindeer-bounds o'er the pasture free; And the moss-looks bright, where my foot hath been. PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 439. EFFECTIVE STYLE. The more your Maxims. 1. Happiness is the shadow reading and speaking partake of the freedom and ease of common discourse, (provided you sustain the object and life of the composition) the more just, natural, and effective will be your style of delivery: hence the necessity of studying nature, of avoiding all affectation, and of never attempting that in public, which is beyond your ability. Some mar, or spoil what they are going to say, by making so much ado over it, thinking they must do some great thing; when it isal most as simple as--wash and be clean: whatever is not natural is not agreeable or persuasive. 440. IMPORTANT QUESTIONs. 1. Were any beings ever created angels? 2. Is it right ever to do wrong? 3. Why was a revlation necessary? 4. May we not protect our person and character from assault? 5. Does civilization increase happiness? 6. Which excites more curiosity, the works of nature, or the works of art? 7. Ought a witness to be questioned with regard to his religious opinions, or belief? 8. Was the general bankrupt law a benefit to the country? 9. Why are we disposed to laugh, even when our best friend falls down! 10. Which is the greatest, faith, hope, or charity? 11. Should controversy interrupt our friendship and esteem for each other? 12. Have christians any right to persecute each other for their opinions? 441. It is much to be regretted, that our teachers are so illy qualified to instruct their pupils even in the first rudiments of reading: and they are all so much inclined to fall into bad habits, and the insitation of faulty speakers, that it requires constant watchfulness to keep clear of the influences of a wrong bias, and false, and merely arbitrary rules. We never can succeed in this important art, until we take elementary instruction out of the hands of ignoramuses, and insist upon having persons fully competent to take charge of the cause. Away then with the idea, that any one can teach reading and speaking, merely because he can call the letters, and speak the words so as to be understood. Operating Circumstances. We are too apt, in estimating a law, passed at a remote period, to combine in our consideration, all the subsequent events, which have had an influence upon ; instead of conforming ourselves, as we ought, to the circumstances, existing at the time of its passage. So live, that, when thy summons comes to join contentment, and rests, or moves forever with its original 2. A drop of wisdom is worth a tun of riches. 3. Whatever does not stand with credis, will not stand long. 4. Business must be attend ed to, at the expense of every thing else of less im portance. 5. Our states of mind differ as much as our spirits and temper. 6. Death-cannot kill what never dies, mutual love. 7. If you will not hear reason, she will rap you over your knuck Good counsel is thrown away on the arrogand les. 8. Open rebuke is better than secret love. 9. and self-conceited. 10. He, who resolves to ament, has God, and will good beings on his side. very thankful, that my mouth has been openAnecdote. Vanity Reproved "I am ed to preach without any learning," said an illiterate preacher, in speaking against educating ministers, to preach the gospel. A gentleman present replied, "Sir, a similar event took place in Baalam's time." Education should give us command of every faculty of body, and mind-call out all change the creatures of impulse, prejudice our powers of observation and reflection, and passion, to thinking, reasoning, and lov ing beings; lead to objects of pursuits, and of every individual, and to the whole world, habits of conduct, favorable to the happiness and multiply all the means of enjoyment, and diminish every temptation to vice and sensuality; and true education will do all this, Varieties. 1. What is moral virtue? 2. The greatest danger to public liberty, is from vice and idleness. 3. He, that showeth mercy, shall receive mercy. 4. Never attempt anything more, than there is a prospect of accomplishing. 5. Should not beasts as Rational liberty is diametrically opposed well as men, be treated with kindness? 6. to the wildness of anarchy. 7. We should never ascribe bad motives, when we can sup pose good ones. 8. Nothing is more preju than uncertain and varying policy. 9. Is dicial to the great interests of a nation, Why have those banished and forbidden lega Comest thou because the anointed king is hence? 442 ELOQUENCE. What were all the attribu es of man, his personal accomplishments, and his boasted reason, without the taculty of SPEECH? To excel in its use is the highest of human arts. It enables man to govern whole nations, and to enchant, while he governs. The aristocracy of Eloquence is supreme, and, in a free country, can never be subdued. It is the pride of peace, and the glory of war: it rides upon the zephyr's wings, or thunders in the storm. But there is in eloquence, in painting, the life of the canvas, which breathes, moves, speaks, and is full of action: so is there in the dance, the poetry and music of motion, the eloquence of action; whose power consists in the wonderful adaptation of the graces of the body to the harmonies of mind. There is eloquence in every object of taste, both in art and nature; in sculpture, gardening, architecture, poetry and music; all of which come within the scope and plan of the orator, that he may comprehend that intellectual relation, that secret clause in the liberal professions, which, connecting one with another, combines the influence of all. Virtue, alone, ennobles human kind, And power-should on her glorious footsteps wait. Wisdom-finds tongues-in trees; books-in runring streams; sermons-in stones, and GOOD-in verything. You pride you-on your golden hue; [too. Know the poor glow-worm-hath its brightness When men of judgment-feel, and creep their way, Tis good, and lovely, to be kind; A little learning is a dangerous thing; Ah me! the laureled wreath, that murder wears, Maxims. 1. Old age and faded flowers, no remedies can revive. 2. Something should be learned every time a book is opened. 3. A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of the child. 4. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man-perfected, without adversity. 5 The full stomach cannot realize the evils of hunger. 6. When thought is agitated, truth rises. 7. A child requires books, as much as the merchant does goods. 8. Learn by the vices of others, how detestable your own are. 9. Judge not of men or things, at first sight. 10. Reprove thy friend pri vately, and commend him publicly. Anecdote. Sharp Reply. Two country attorneys overtaking a wagoner, with two span of horses, and, thinking to be witty at his expense. asked him, "How it happened, that his forward horses were so fat, and the rear ones so lean?" The wagoner, knowing them, answered, "That his fore span were lawyers, and the other-clients." Selfishness-seems to be the complex of all vices. The love of self, when predominant, excludes all goodness, and perverts all truth. It is the great enemy of individuals, societies, and communities. It is the cause of all irritation, the source of all evil. People, who are always thinking of themselves, have no time to be concerned about others; their own pleasure or profit, is the pivot, on which everything turns. They cannot even conceive of disinterestedness, and will laugh to scorn all, who appear to love others, as well as themselves. Selfishness-is the very essence of the first original sin, and it must be corrected, or we are lost. Varieties. 1. The wind, the falling of water, humming of bees, a sweet voice reading monotonously, tend to produce sleep; this is not so much the case with musical tones. 2. The trilling and quivering of the voice, which please so much, correspond to the glittering of light: as the moonbeams playing on the waves. 3. Falling from a dis Blood-nursed and watered with the widow's tears, cord to a concord, which produces so much Seems not so foul, -so tainted, and so dead, As waves the night-shade round the sceptic's bed. em. 443. MUSIC is the oral language of the affections; as words are the natural language of the thoughts. The notes of a tune are analogous to letters; the measures-to words; the strains-to sentences; and the tune, or musical piece, to a discourse, oration, or poAs there is a great variety of affections, and states of affection in the human mind, so there is a great variety of tunes, through the medium of which these affections, and states of affection are manifested. There are three grand divisions of music, which, for the sake of distinction, may be denominated the upper, or that which relates to the Supreme Being; the middle, or that relating to created, rational beings, or social music; and the lower, or what appertains to that part of creation below man-called descriplive music. Ambition is like love, impatient- sweetness in music, correspond to the affections, when brought out of a state of dislike; and also with the taste; which is soon cloyed with what is sweet alone. 4. Music has great effect on mind and body, making us warlike or the reverse, soft and effeminate, grave and light, gentle, kind and pitiful, &c., according to its nature, and performance; the reason is, because hearing is more closely associated with feeling or spirits, than the other senses. Observe the effect of Yankee Doodle, God save the King, Marseilles Hymn, &c. 5. When music speaks to the affection, affection obeys, as when noture speaks, nature replics. Let gratitude-in acts of goodness flow; |