A covering stepping painfully and slow,
And with difficult utterance, like one
Whose heart is with an iron nerve put down,
Crying, "Unclean! unclean!"

For Helon was a leper.

Day was breaking,

When at the altar of the temple stood

The holy priest of God. The incense lamp
Burned with a struggling light, and a low chant
Swelled through the hollow arches of the roof,
Like an articulate wail; and there, alone,
Wasted to ghastly thinness, Helon knelt.
The echoes of the melancholy strain

Died in the distant aisles, and he rose up,

Struggling with weakness; and bowed down his head Unto the sprinkled ashes, and put off

His costly raiment for the leper's garb,

And with the sackcloth round him, and his lip

Hid in the loathsome covering, stood still,

Waiting to hear his doom:

"Depart! depart, O child

Of Israel, from the temple of thy God!

For he has smote thee with his chastening rod,

And to the desert wild,

From all thou lov'st, away thy feet must flee,
That from thy plague his people may be free.

"Depart and come not near

The busy mart, the crowded city more;
Nor set thy foot a human threshold o'er;
And stay thou not to hear

Voices that call thee in the way; and fly
From all who in the wilderness pass by.

"Wet not thy burning lip

In streams that to a human dwelling glide;

Nor rest thee where the covert fountains hide;

Nor kneel thee down to dip

The water where the pilgrim bends to drink,
By desert well, or river's grassy brink.

"And pass thou not between

The weary traveler and the cooling breeze;
And lie not down to sleep beneath the trees
Where human tracks are seen.

Nor milk the goat that browseth on the plain,
Nor pluck the standing corn, or yellow grain.

"And now depart! and when

Thy heart is heavy, and thine eyes are dim,
Lift up thy prayer beseechingly to Him
Who, from the tribes of men,

Selected thee to feel his chastening rod:
Depart, O leper! and forget not God."

And he went forth,- alone! Not one of all
The many whom he loved, nor she whose name
Was woven in the fibers of the heart,
Breaking within him now, to come and speak
Comfort unto him. Yea, he went his way,-
Sick and heartbroken, and alone,— to die!
For God had cursed the leper.

It was noon, And Helon knelt beside a stagnant pool In the lone wilderness, and bathed his brow, Hot with the burning leprosy, and touched The loathsome water to his fevered lips, Praying he might be so blest,― to die! Footsteps approached, and with no strength to flee, He drew the covering closer on his lip, Crying, "Unclean! unclean!" and in the folds Of the coarse sackcloth, shrouding up his face, He fell upon the earth till they should pass. Nearer the stranger came, and bending o'er

The leper's prostrate form, pronounced his name,
"Helon!" The voice was like the master tone
Of a rich instrument,- most strangely sweet;
And the dull pulses of disease awoke,
And for a moment beat beneath the hot
And leperous scales with a restoring thrill.
"Helon, arise!" And he forgot his curse,
And rose and stood before him. Love and awe
Mingled in the regard of Helon's eye
As he beheld the stranger. He was not
In costly raiment clad, nor on his brow
The symbol of a princely lineage wore ;
No followers at his back, nor in his hand
Buckler, sword, or spear; yet in his mien
Command sat throned serene, and if he smiled,
A kingly condescension graced his lips,
The lion would have crouched to in his lair.
His garb was simple and his sandals worn;
His statue modeled with a perfect grace;
His countenance, the impress of a God,
Touched with the open innocence of a child;
His eye was blue and calm, as is the sky
In the serenest noon; his hair unshorn
Fell to his shoulders; and his curling beard
The fullness of perfected manhood bore.
He looked on Helon earnestly awhile,

As if his heart was moved, and, stooping down,
He took a little water in his hand

And laid it on his brow, and said, "Be clean!"
And lo! the scales fell from him, and his blood
Coursed with delicious coolness through his veins,
And his dry palms grew moist, and on his brow
The dewy softness of an infant stole.
His leprosy was cleansed, and he fell down
Prostrate at Jesus' feet, and worshiped him.

CHAPTER II

QUALITY

Quality is the kind or character of sound, - the purity or impurity of voice. This vocal element is easily recognized in various voices and is peculiar to each individual. We soon learn to know a person by the sound of his voice. A child's voice, a woman's voice, a man's voice, or the voice of a dog, a horse, or a song bird are essentially different in Quality because of the size and shape of the vocal organs of each.

Our states of mind and feeling are shown in these Qualities. If we say "Good morning," in a pleasant, happy frame of mind; then utter the words, "Oh! I'm so tired,” in a weary, languid manner; then give the words, "I hate you!" in an angry mood; then whisper the secret injunction, "Boys, be still"; and lastly, if we scream, under the influence of fright or terror, we easily recognize different Qualities of voice.

A distinguishing characteristic of each Quality is its resonance, which is the strengthening or reënforcing of vibrations in the cavities of the head, throat, and chest. Repeat the words of Darius Green, "The birds can fly and why can't I?" in a nasal, twanging tone; then utter in a peaceful, tranquil manner, "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank"; then give in a bold, patriotic way the sentence, "Thou too sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great!"; and lastly, speak in a deep, hollow, sepulchral tone the words "'Tis midnight's holy hour"; and we clearly detect a deepening of the resonance from the first to the last quotation. It will be seen, then, that we have the power to change resonance at will, and, by this process, change the Quality of voice in a natural and effective way. This may be likened to the stops of the pipe organ, by which the musician changes the Quality of the tone, though the key, time, and melody remain unchanged The reader, like the organist, must "know his stops."

Every person at any period of life has a normal, predominant Quality of voice and seven other distinct Qualities in various stages of development; these are technically called, (1) Normal, (2) Orotund, (3) Oral, (4) Nasal, (5) Falsetto, (6) Guttural, (7) Pectoral, and (8) Aspirate.

Relation to Man's Triune Nature.

We have seen that Quality, broadly speaking, represents the Emotive nature of man; but a closer analysis reveals the fact that each Quality responds more especially to some one

NOTE. The Qualities of voice are no more difficult to learn nor less practical in application than the essential elements of any other science prescribed in a curriculum. In fact, it has been shown that every student is already in possession of them, but, like all other powers, they need cultivation and intelligent application so that the speaker may use them correctly, effectively, and unconsciously while speaking. The teacher will understand that any given Quality of one voice may be quite unlike that of another voice; the care will be to have each student make his own Qualities at their best. The secret of successful use of these and all elements of expression lies in the practice of them with a full realization of the sentiments or emotions they imply.

SECTION I. NORMAL QUALITY

The Normal is the ordinary, predominant Quality of voice peculiar to each individual. It is the basis of all the other Qualities, each of which is some modification of or variation from the Normal. A speaker's Normal may be very harsh and