PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 569. RHETORICAL ACTION-respects the atti- | correspond. An erect att.tude, and a firmness tude, gesture, and expression of the countenance. of position, denote majesty, activity, strength; Words cannot represent certain peculiarities; the leaning-affection, respect, earnestness they depend on the actor. Simplicity, or a strict entreaty. dignity of composure, indifference, disadherence to the modesty of nature-correct- ease. The air of a person expresses a language ness-or adaption to the word-and beauty, as easily understood. opposed to awkwardness-are the principal gentleman and military chief bespeak the habits The husbandman, dandy, marks of good action. Beauty belongs to objects and qualities of each. The head gently reclined, of sight. Action should be easy, natural, varied, denotes grief, shame; erect-courage, firmness; and directed by passion. Avoid affectation and thrown back or shaken-dissent; forward-as display; for they disgust. The best artists are sent. The hand raised and inverted-repels, famous for simplicity, which has an enchanting more elevated and extended--surprise, astonisheffect. Profuse decorations indicate a wish to ment; placed on the mouth-silence; on the supply the want of genius by multiplying inferi- head, pain; on the breast-affection, or appeal to or beauties. There is in every one an indis- conscience; elevated-defiance; both raised and cribable something, which we call nature, that palms united-supplication; gently clasped perceives and recognizes the inspirations of na- thankfulness; wrung-agony. ture; therefore, after bringing your voice under your control, if you enter fully into the spirit of the composition, and let your feelings prompt and govern your action, you cannot greatly err. The victory is half won when you fully feel and realize what you read or speak. Resolve to acquire the power, the witchery, the soul of elocution-that lightning of ancient times which poured a blaze of light on the darkest understanding, and that thunder which awakens the dead. All-some force obey! Gold-will dissolve, and diamonds-melt away; Marble-obeys the chisel, and the saw; And solar-beam-a rock of ice will thaw; The flaming forge o'ercomes well-temper'd steel; And flinty glass--is fashioned at the wheel: But man's rebellious heart-no power can bend, No flames can soften, no concussion--rend; Till the pure spirit soften, pierce and melt, And the warm blood-is in the conscience felt. 571. Look your hearers in the face-give yourself, body and soul, to the subject-let not the attention be divided between the manner and matter. Practice in private to establish correct habits of voice and gesture, and become so familiar with all rules as not to think of them when exercising. The head, face. eyes, hands, and upper part of the body are principally employed in oratorical action. The soul speaks most intelligibly in the muscles of the face, and through the eye, which is the chief seat of expression; let the internal man, and the external ted by true science, and art, remains in unVarieties. 1. Costume, when once regula changable good taste; comfortable, convenient, as well as picturesque and becoming. 2. In 1756, a white headed old woman-died in London, whose hair sold for 244 dollars to a ladies' periwig maker. 3. In some countries, intellect has sway; in some-wealth; and in others beauty and rank; but the most goodness combined with truth in practice. powerful influence in the best societies, is 4. Merit-in the inheritor, alone makes valid an inheritance of glory in ancestry. 5. Why does new sweet milk become sour-during a thunder storm? 6. Why can no other nation make a Chinese gong? 7. Is not the principles of human nature? 8. How prone American government founded upon the true many are, to worship the creature more than the Creator! 9. When apparent truths are taken, and confirmed for real ones, they become fallacies. 10. Actions-show best the nature of the law of life; and deedsshow the mun. In all thy huniors, whether grave or mellow, PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 572. The emphatic strokes of the hand accom- Our thoughts are boundless, tho' our frames are frail, The Muse of inspiration-plays 574. Some of the sources of faults in action, are Of those few fools who with ill stars are curst, In man or woman, but far most in man, Through the press'd nostril, spectacle-bestrid. Varieties. 1. Children learn but little from what they read, while the attention is divided between the sense and making out the words. 2. Few parents and teachers are aware of the pre-eminent importance of oral over book instruction. 3. Truths, inculcated without any sense of delight, are like seeds, whose living germ has been destroyed; and which, therefore, when sown, can never come to anything. 4. The idea of the Lord, coming into the world, to instruct us, and make us good, is an idea particularly delightful to young children, as well as to those of riper years. 5. We were not created-to live on the earth, one moment in vain; every moment has a commission, connected with eternity; and each minute, improved, gives power to the next minute, to proceed with an acceler ated ratio and impulse. Let talkers talk; stick thou to what is best, PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 575. Stability of position, facility of change, and general grace of action, depend on the right use of the feet: [see the engravings of them.] the motions of children are graceful, because proinpted by nature: see how the different passions affect their countenances; what a pity they are not kept on in this way, without being led by their teachers into captivity to bad habits. Keep your mind collected and composed; guard against bashfulness, which will wear off by opposition. One generally has confidence in doing anything with whose manner he is familiar. Assurance is attained by-1, entirely mastering your subject, mind intent on it, and heart warmed with it: nev- Think'st thou there are no serpents in the world, 576. Look at the limbs of a willow tree, gently and variously waving before the breeze, cutting curved lines, which are lines of beauty; and cultivate a graceful, easy, flowing and forcible gesticulation. Adapt your action, as well as vocal powers, to the occasion and circumstances-the action to the word, and the word to the action. A young speaker may be more various than an old one. Do not act words instead of ideas; i. e. not make gestures to correspond, when you speak of anything small, low, up, large, &c. Let the voice, countenance, mien, and gesture, conspire to drive home to the judgment and heart, your impassioned appeals, cogent arguments, strong conclusions, and deep convictions. Let Nature, guided by science, be your oracle, and the voice of unsophistocated feeling your monitor. Fill your soul with the mighty purpose of becoming an orator, and turn aside from no labor, shrink from no ef fort, that are essential to the enterprise. Self- Ten thonsand thousand strings at once go loose,- It is a note Of upstart greatness-to observe and watch riding in a stage-coach, with another, ob- Brute force-may crush the heart, but cannot kill; Varieties. 1. Mind may act on mind, Of light-is poesy; 'tis the supreme of power; Great minds, like Heaven, are pleased in doing Cowards-are scar'd with threat'nings; boys are Of curious changes, that perplex itself, For those poor trifles, which the noble mind-And rates itself-above its real value. A brain of feathers, and a heart of lead. PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. of the prevalence of the pride of science in 578. SUGGESTIONS. The author is aware, from experience, that there are many things tending to discourage a new beginner in declamation; one is, a consciousness of his own awkwardness; which teaches us the importance of knowing how to do a thing, Anecdote. A Wise Decision. Eliza Am. before attempting it in the presence of others. Let him select a short, and ordinary piece, bert, a young Parisian lady, resolutely dis first, and commit it perfectly to memory, and carded a gentlman, to whom she was to have be sure that he understands every word of the been married, because he ridiculed religion. author. Never appear in an improper dress; Having given him a gentle reproof, he replied, let your clothing be clean and neat, and pro-"that a man of the world could not be so old perly adjusted to the body; neither too loose, fashioned, as to regard God and religion nor too tight. Never be influenced, one way Eliza started; but, on recovering herself, said, or another, by what your companions may"From this moment, sir, when I discover that say, or do; be your own master, and feel de- you do not regard religion, I cease to be termined to succeed; at the same time, you yours. He, who does not love and honor may be as modest and unassuming as you God, can never love his wife, constantly and please, the more so the better: let your sub- sincerely." ject and object be to you ALL IN ALL. Applause Waits on success: the fickle multitude, 579. OUR BOOK. In this abridged outline of the Principles of Elocution, the author has endeavored to appreciate the age and state of those, who will be likely to read, or study the work; for it is designed for both purposes; and if the reader, or student, shall experience a tithe of the pleasure in rightly using it, as the author has in writing it, his aspirations will be fully realized. The more these subjects are examined, and their principles applied to practice, the more will it be seen and feit, that no one can become a GOOD ELOCU TIONIST, unless he studies BODY and MIND, MATTER and SPIRIT; and makes the results his own, by actual appropriation; science and art, theory and practice, must go hand in hand, to develop and perfect us for EARTH or HEAVEN. If you did know-to whom I gave the ring, As travelers-oft look back, at eve, When eastward-darkly going, Miscellaneous. 1. A wise man-is willing to profit by the errors of others; because he does not, under the impulse of pride, condemn and despise them; but, while his judg ment-disapproves, his heart-pities them. 2. It is the constant tendency of man, when in a perverted state of the will, and according to the state of such perversion, to make the reason, or understanding, everything, and to pay little or no attention to the state of the affections; and also to regulate his actions more by external, than internal considerations; this state and tendency is the cause Yes, love indeed is light from Heaven; To lift from earth our low desire Devotion wafts the mind above, But Heaven itself descends in love; A feeling from the Godhead caught, To wean from self each sordid thought; A ray of him who form'd the whole; A glory circling round the soul!, Varieties. 1. Neglect not time present; despair not of time pust; never despair. 2. Infamy-is where it is received. If thou art a mud wall, it will stick,-if marble, it will 3. Ridicule rebound. If thou storm at it, it is thine; if thou contemn it,-it is gone. seems to dishonor, worse than dishonor itself. 4. It is heaven, on earth, to have the mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn on the truth. 5. A long life may be passed without finding a friend, in whose understanding and virtue, we can equally confule, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justice and sincerity. 6. A weak man, however honest, is not qualified to judge. 7. A man of the world, however penetrating, is not fit to counsel. 8. What is the great, essential evil of intemperance? The voluntary extinction of reason. 9. What breaks the heart of the drunkard's wife? It is not, that he is poor; but, that he is a drunkard. 10. How shall we arrest, how suppress this great inwardly, and outwardly; by giving strength evil? To rescue men, we must act on them within, to withstand the temptation, and re move the temptation without. Thou sun, (said I.) fair light! And thou enlightened earth, so fresh, and gay; N. B. The latter part of the work is much abridged, and por tions of the original matter omitted, to make more room for the Readings and Recitations, and still keep the book, within what are deemed proper limits: this will rationally account for its in coherency, as well as brevity.-One more lasi word to the pupil READINGS AND RECITATIONS. Notes. In these exercises, there is a continual recurrence of the preceding principles, and all designed for thinkers and workers. As there are no such things as TIME and SPACE be enging to the mind, the nearer we approach to their annihilation, the more readily can we memorize: for which reason small type are used; and also variety, for the purpose of assisting in the preservation of the sight, and maintaining our independence of spectacles: in consideration of which, it should be observed, that Books must be read, by varying their distances from the eyes; sometimes quite near, at others farther off: also practice the sight In looking at surrounding objects, in their proper positions from mearest to farthest. 580. IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. Among various excellent arguments-for the immortality of the soul, there is one drawn from the perpetual progress of the soul to its perfection, without a possibility of ever arriving at it. How can it enter into the thoughts of man, that the soul, which is capable of such immense perfections, and of receiving new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing, almost as soon as it is created? Are such abilities made for no purpose? A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass: in a few years, he has all the endowments he is capable of; and, were he to live ten thousand inore, would be the same thing he is at present. man has looked about him, as far as he can, 591. FANCIED INFALLIBILITY. When he concludes there is no more to be seen; when he is at the end of his line, he is at his best, he is sure none ever did, nor ever the bottom of the ocean; when he has shot son is the certain measure of truth; his own knowledge, of what is possible in nature; can shoot better, or beyond it; his own reathough his mind and his thoughts, change every seven years, as well as his strength and every week or every day, yet he is sure, or at his features: nay, though his opinions change least confident, that his present thoughts and conclusions are just and true, and cannot be deceived. OUR TOILS AND THEIR REWARD. He, who ascends to mountain-tops, shall find Round him, are icy rocks, and loudly blow And thus, reward the toils, which to those summits Man does not seem born to enjoy life, but with all its attendant planets, is but a very 582. PARTS OF THE WHOLE. This sun, to deliver it down to others. This is not sur- little part of the grand machine of the uniprising to consider in animals, which are verse; every star, though no bigger in ap formed for our use, and can finish their busi-pearance than the diamond, that glitters ness in a short life. The silk-worm, after hav- on a lady's ring, is really, a vast globe, like ing spun her task, lays her eggs, and dies. the sun in size, and in glory; no less spaBut a man-can never have taken in his full cious, no less luminous, than the radiant measure of knowledge, has not time to sub-source of the day: so that every star is not due his passions, establish his soul in virtue, and come up to the perfection of his nature, before he is hurried off the stage. Would an infinitely wise Being-make such glorious creatures for so mean a purpose? Can he delight in the production of such abortive intelligences, such short-lived reasonable beings? Would he give us talents, that are not to be exerted? capacities that are never to be gratified? How can we find that wisdom, which shines through all his works, in the formation of man, without looking on this world as only a nursery for the next, and believing, that the several generations of rational creatures, which rise up and disappear, in such quick successions, are only to receive their first rudiments of existence here, and afterwards, to be transplanted into a more friendly climate, where they may spread, and flourish-to all eternity?-Addison. VIRTUOUS FRIENDSHIP. Is aught so fair, Where peace, with ever-blooming olive, crowns That-I spent,-that-I had; That left-that-I lost barely a world, but the centre of a magnifi SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY. Of cloudless climes, and starry skies; Which heaven, to gaudy day denies. A mind at peace, with all below, Will he be idle, who has much enjoy? |