ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. HIGH SCHOOL AND College Course of Study. White's New Complete Arithmetic. \ Kay's New Higher Arithmetic. Ray's New Algebras. Ray's Higher Mathematics. Duffet's French Literature, Hepburn's English Rhetoric. M Thalheimer's Historical Series. Norton's Natural Philosophy. Norton's Elements of Physics. Norton's Elements of Chemistry. Eclectic Physiology. Andrews's Elementary Geology. Andrews's Manual of the Consti tution. Gregory's Political Economy. Studies in English Literature. Hewett's Pedagogy. Bartholomeo's Latin Series. DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULARS ON APPLICATION. COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & Co. ECLECTIC PRESS: VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO. PREFACE. IN an experience extending over forty years, I have been brought to the conviction that vocal culture is what is most needed in the study of Elocution; for this reason, in the present manual I have formulated exercises adapted to the use of classes in the different grades of the schools. The exercises are in all cases in consonance with nature's laws. The speaking voice, by a proper process of training, is as capable of development in strength, beauty, and flexibility as the singing voice. The rapidity and carelessness of social and business habit in speech, in a great measure, costs us the grace and beauty of our language by depriving it of quantity and quality; and slovenliness of action in the organs deprives the elements of the resonance belonging to their full and correct utterance. Mechanical mincing cramps the vowels, and deprives consonants of vocal power. The theory and practice of a true method should develop the vocal powers, side by side with the growth of the mind, and by the time the student has reached the high schools and institutions of advanced learning, he should be able to deliver his essays and papers with the same proficiency that he displays in their verbal or written form. The scholar, in gaining control and use of the voice in the expres sion of all the emotions, unconsciously to himself, overcomes that constrained, awkward bearing, which in many cases arises from the conviction that he does not know how to do that which is required of him. I do not consider that the treatment of the subject in the present manual is an exhaustive one. The art is, it may be said, in its infancy, and certain principles require elaboration which in time will be universally understood. I have made use of the older authorities in all cases where I have felt that they are as valuable as when first presented for use;- not that I do not draw from all sources, the modern as well as those of earlier generations. It is the stu lent's business to keep abreast of (iii) the times, and it is a rare thing with me to lay down any work of merit pertaining to my art without having widened my information, and also having noted the fact for future use. I have not attempted an exposition of the subject matter by the use of my own notations; I have preferred those of Rush, and others who have followed his lead, inasmuch as the diagrams given are finely illustrative of the principles of melodic progression and cadence. The emphatic significance and distinctive enforcement of these have never been exhaustively interpreted and applied to instructive purposes. They present a well defined method of eluci dating the meaning of an author, and of giving proper expression to the sentiment or passion conveyed in language. The notations, in all cases, are not to be considered as the fixed and determinate modes of utterance; on the contrary, they simply express the notator's rendering of certain passages; and the symbols employed are capable of conveying to another the author's meaning in the absence of vocal illustration. Gesture of face, hands, and figure must be studied from standard works on that subject, and should in no case be taught until spontaneously at the command of the teacher. In "A Plea for Spoken Language I have introduced Aaron Hill's studies in expression, which I recommend to all students of Elocution. This work may be considered as an aid to “kussell's Vocal Culture," the joint work of Prof. William Russell and myself, prepared at the time that my School of Oratory in Boston was in operation. The methods of Vocal Drill employed were in accordance with my studies in anatomy and physiology, and were endorsed by many of the leading physicians of Boston, among whom were Drs. Humphrey Storer, Winslow Lewis, Edward Reynolds, and others. Now that my work in the direction of general teaching is drawing to a close, I dedicate to my daughter, Mrs. R. Murdoch Hollingshead, who has been associated with me in my work, and to the teachers of the future, the work in which I have labored to simplify and make practical Dr. Rush's " Philosophy of the Voice," which I consider the most complete system ever offered student of Elocution. to the JAMES E. MURDOCH. ROADSIDE," Cincinnati, O., May 15, 1884. |