highest effect of which they are capable. With certain management, few voices are so bad as not to be rendered capable of discharging tolerably well the functions of public speaking in our assemblies; and few, perhaps, are to be found so perfect as not to require some alteration; or which may not derive benefit from the observation of some of the general rules for the management of that organ. These rules, in the order of their importance; may be considered under the following heads:

The first point in the management of the voice, and that of the most indispensable necessity, is articulation; because imperfection in this respect, would obscure every other talent in a public speaker. According to Sheridan, "good articulation consists in giving every letter in a syllable its due proportion of sound, according to the most approved custom of pronouncing it, and in making such a distinction between the syllables of which words are composed, that the ear shall, without difficulty, acknowledge their number, and perceive at once to which syllable each letter belongs. Where these points are not observed, the articulation is proportionally defective."

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The importance of a correct articulation will be recognized, when we consider that a public speaker, possessed of only a moderate voice, if he articulates correctly, will be better understood, and heard with greater pleasure, than one who vociferates without judgment. The voice of the latter may, indeed, extend to a considerable distance, but the sound is

dissipated in confusion: of the former voice, not the smallest vibration is wasted, every stroke is perceived even at the utmost distance to which it reaches; and hence it often has the appearance of penetrating even further than one which is loud, but badly articulated.

Good articulation is not only conducive to the improvement of the voice in clearness and strength, but it is the criterion of a speaker's knowledge of his language; hence the almost unconquerable imperfections in the utterance of those who, in their infancy, have been given up to the care of vulgar speakers. As the difficulty of acquiring a correct articulation is unusually great in the English language, the foundation. must be laid at that age when the organs are most tractable. Would parents and instructors direct their attention to this matter, a manifest improvement would quickly follow; yet to acquire a correct articulation, is not so difficult as to defy the assaults of labor, where nature has not placed a barrier in the form of an impediment, such as lisping or stammering.

Impediments, Stammering, etc., with infallible Rules for Cure.

As connected with the subject of articulation, it appears necessary to say a few words concerning impediment of speech. In cases where a small degree of hesitation breaks the fluent tenor of discourse, much may be done by due attention. In seeking for a remedy, it must be considered that as persons of delicate habits are more generally subject to it, it no doubt proceeds from a constitutional trepidation. Care of the health, then, is the foundation of every hope of All excesses should be avoided; all irregularities guarded against. All the powers of the mind should be enlisted in the combat with the defect. A young person should, therefore, speak with deliberation, and when alone, practice frequently those words or letters which he finds it most difficult to enounce. He should also furnish his mind

cure.

with a copious vocabulary of synonyms, so that if he finds himself unable to utter a particular word, he may substitute some other in its place, and above all, he should be encouraged to exert the energy of his own mind, and assume a courageous command over himself. Let him do this, and if the evil be not entirely eradicated, it will at least be palliated in a considerable degree. To avoid stammering or stuttering, a person should always speak with an expiring breath. To do this, he must speak deliberately, and with the mouth sufficiently open to prevent the suppression of those sounds which are made by the proper exercise of the organs of speech. By strictly following this rule, namely, to speak with an expiring breath, the most inveterate cases of stammering may be effectually cured.

Why is it that persons afflicted with stammering, always avoid it in singing? It is because they utter the words deliberately, with a full supply of breath, and with the mouth open.

Whenever one reads or speaks, he should commence with a sufficient supply of breath, which he should renew at the intervals of all the pauses. Persons are not so apt to stammer in reading poetry as prose, because they are under a kind of necessity of taking breath both at the cæsural pause and the pause at the end of the line.

One very disagreeable imperfection of articulation is the guttural sound of the letter r. This imperfection is best overcome by removing the articulation from the throat to the proper organs, the tongue and the palate; and by practicing to continue the sound in its proper place, or rather nearer the teeth. This may be effected by forcing the breath between the palate and the tip of the tongue, and by causing the tongue to vibrate rapidly.

The hissing of the letter s, that reproach to our language, is, as far as possible, to be moderated, both by attention to

composition and enunciation, and should not be exaggerated as some are found to do.

The letters m and n are also subject to be imperfectly sounded. Instead of passing the sound of m, when produced by closing the lips, entirely through the nose, it is stopped or resisted, apparently between the bony and cartilaginous part of the nose, and does not issue freely. This defect is called by a contradictory appellation, speaking through the nose, and is seldom difficult to remove. The sound of the letter n, when formed by pressing the upper part of the tongue against the palate, should also pass entirely through the nose, but more gently than that of m.

In its general combinations, imperfect articulation is not so disagreeable as when combined with the letter g. The words ringing, singing, sound as if the n was omitted, and are uttered most disagreeably, as if they were riggig, siggig. The defective articulation of both these letters may be successfully got over by attention and practice, except in cases where nature or accident may have denied the sounds a passage through the proper organ.

Pronunciation and Accent.

Pronunciation is the mode of enouncing certain words and syllables. By accent is understood the stress laid on particular syllables, or in a more extended sense, the tone or expression of voice with which sentences are delivered. As pronunciation varies with the modes and fashions of the times, it is sometimes so fluctuating in particular words, and high authorities are often so much at variance, that the most correct mode is hard to be determined: hence to acquire a correct pronunciation, this irregularity, whatever be the cause, must be submitted to. Accent is also subject to the caprice of fashion. Its effect on our syllables is either to lengthen or shorten their quantity. When the accent is placed on the

vowel, the syllable is uniformly long, as glory, father: when placed on the consonant, if it be a mute, the syllable will be short, as battle, habit; if it be a liquid, the syllable will be long.

Emphasis.

Emphasis discharges, in sentences, the same kind of office. that accent does in words, ennobling the word to which it belongs, and presenting it in a stronger light to the understand ing. The necessity of observing propriety of emphasis is so great, that the true meaning of words can not be conveyed without it. Great attention should therefore be paid by the student or speaker in the discrimination of those sentences which, referring to some predominant idea, require to be emphatically rendered.

Pauses and Breathing.

The common pauses necessary to be made according to the rules of punctuation are so obvious, that a reader or speaker must be very careless, who offends against them. The ordinary pauses which are marked in writing serve principally for grammatical discrimination; but in public speaking, pauses somewhat different are introduced. These are termed rhetorical pauses, and require to be adjusted by correct judgment and feeling. They are placed either before or after important matter, in order to introduce or leave it impressed upon the memory with stronger effect.

The reading of verse requires certain pauses, which differ, in some measure, from the pauses used in reading prose. The first has been named the pause of suspension, or final pause, which takes place at the end of each line; in this pause there is not to be any inflection of the voice. The second is the casural pause, which divides the verse into equal or unequal portions; upon the right management of which the melody and harmony of versification in a great measure