The First Step is two minutes in deep breathing. The object is to get into the habit of filling all the cells of the lungs with air. People, as a rule, breathe superficially, using the air-cells in the upper part of the lungs, and seldom making use of the cells in the lower part. Exercises in deep breathing, covering a considerable period of time, so accustom the lungs to full inspiration, that they in time adapt themselves to the new condition of things, and become practically automatic in their action. This result is of great practical value to the speaker, as it insures a sufficient supply of breath for all the requirements of long clauses and sentences, without taxing the mind in the operation. In short, it becomes a fixed habit of the lungs to keep themselves well filled. BREATHING EXERCISE. Inhale slowly for ten, twenty, or thirty seconds; exhale for the same length of time. If thirty seconds of time are used for inhalation, it will be a quite sure test that the lungs are being well filled. An equal amount of time for exhalation will give the student excellent practice in the management of the breath. The Second Step is two minutes in deep reading. The object of this step is to get easy control of the lower notes of the scale, and thereby secure body or fullness of voice by amplitude of resonance in the large cavity of the chest. EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE. FROM CHILDE HAROLD. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean-roll! When for a moment, like a drop of rain, Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convulsed-in breeze or gale or storm, Dark heaving;-boundless, endless, and sublime— The image of Eternity-the throne Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee: thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. Lord Byron. FROM THE BURIAL OF MOSES. O, lonely tomb in Moab's land, O, dark Beth-peor's hill, Speak to these curious hearts of ours, God hath His mysteries of Grace- He hides them deep, like the secret sleep Mrs. Cecil Francis Alexander. FROM HYMN TO MONT BLANC. Thou, too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks, Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene, Slow traveling with dim eyes suffused with tears, To rise before me-Rise, O ever rise! Rise like a cloud of incense, from the earth! FROM ADDRESS TO THE SUN. O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers! Whence are thy beams, O Sun! thy everlasting light! Ossian. FROM HYMN TO THE NIGHT. Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer! The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. FROM THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP. The ocean old, Centuries old, Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled, Paces restless to and fro, Up and down the sands of gold. His beating heart is not at rest; And far and wide, With ceaseless flow, His beard of snow Heaves with the heaving of his breast. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Third Step is two minutes in shouting. The object of this step is to secure the maximum of power in vibration and resonance. EXAMPLE FOR PRACTICE. FROM THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP. Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! We know what Master laid thy keel, Fear not each sudden sound and shock; Are all with thee,—are all with thee! -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Fourth Step is four minutes in oratorical speaking. As the chief aim in all this training for vocal energy has been to prepare students for the exacting demands of public speaking, we select, as our last exercise in this drill, the oration. (See introductory remarks to the chapter "Oratorical Styles," page 309). EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE. FROM THE ORATION INCENTIVES TO DUTY. Go forth into the many mansions of the house of life: scholars! store them with learning; jurists! build them with justice; artists! adorn them with beauty; philanthropists! let them resound with love. Be servants of truth, each in his vocation; doers of the word and not hearers only. Be sincere, pure in heart, earnest, enthusiastic. A virtuous enthusiasm is always self-forgetful and noble. It is the only inspiration now vouchsafed to man. Like Pickering, blend humanity with learning. Like Story, ascend above the Present, in place and time. Like Allston, regard fame only as the eternal shadow of excellence. Like Channing, bend in adoration before the right. Cultivate alike the wisdom of experience and the wisdom of hope. Mindful of the Future, do not neglect the Past: awed by the majesty of Antiquity, turn not with indifference from the Future. True wisdom looks to the ages before us, as well as behind us. Like the Janus of the Capitol, one front thoughtfully regards the Past, rich with experience, with memories, with the priceless traditions of virtue; the other is earnestly directed to the All Hail Hereafter, richer still with its transcendent hopes and unfulfilled prophecies. We stand on the threshold of a new age, which is preparing to recognize new influences. The ancient divinities of Violence and Wrong are retreating to their kindred darkness. There's a fount about to stream, Men of thought, and men of action, Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, for the hour is ripe, And our earnest must not slacken, Men of thought, and men of action, The age of Chivalry has gone. An age of Humanity has come. The Horse, whose importance, more than human, gave the name to that early period of gallantry and war, now yields his foremost place to Man. In serving him, in promoting his elevation, in contributing to his welfare, in doing him good, there are fields of bloodless triumph, nobler far than any in which the bravest knight ever conquered. Here are spaces of labor, wide as the world, lofty as heaven. Let me say, then, in the benison once bestowed upon the youthful knight,-Scholars! jurists! artists! philanthropists! heroes of a Christian age, |