EXERCISE XXI. IN SHORT QUANTITY AND QUICK MOVEMENT. EXAMPLES. 1. Quick! man the life boat! see yon bark, That drives before the blast: There's a rock ahead, the fog is dark, And the storm comes thick and fast; Her mainmast is gone, But she still drives on, To the fatal reef before her: The life boat! man the life boat! 2 Where's Harry Blount? Fitz Eustice, where? EXERCISE XXII. EXCLAMATION. Exclamation shows that the mind is laboring with some strong emotion. It should be expressed in that tone and manner which are appropriate to the passage. Let the pupil exercise his own taste and judgment as to the mau ner of giving the following EXAMPLES. 1. Ye, who have hearts of pity! ye, who have experienced the anguish of dissolving friendship! who have wept, and still weep over the moldering ruins of departed kindred!-ye can enter into the reflection. 2. O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. 3. Who would not exchange the misgivings and the gloom, that overhang this skeptical creed, for the inflexible faith, the ardent hope, the holy rejoicing of him who doubts not for a moment the future reign of universal peace? 4. O Grave! where is thy victory? O Death! where is thy sting? 5. What sweetness, what purity, in his manners! what an affecting gracefulness in his instructions! what sublimity in his maxims! what profound wisdom in his discourses! what presence of mind, what sagacity and propriety in his answers! how great the command over his passions! 6. How hard it is to convince Christians of these things! how hard to bring them to act on the broad, simple, uncompromising precepts of the gospel! how next to impossible does it seem for them to regulate their thoughts, words, and deeds, and all the influences they are perpetually exerting over others, by the purifying and self-sacrificing humility of the gospel! 7. Did you, sir, throw up a black crow?-Not I!- 8. How ghastly the visage of death doth appear; How frightful the thought of the shroud and the bier; And the blood-crested worm-how vile! 9. How friendly the hand that faith is now lending: 10. Great Heaven! how frail thy creature man is made· 11. Not one shall survive to be enslaved; for ere the tri-colored flag shall wave over our prostrate republic, the bones of four millions of Americans shall whiten the shores of their country! PERSONATION. Personation is the representation by a single reader or speaker, of the words, manners, and actions of one or several persons. The student should practice frequently and carefully upon such pieces as require personation in connection with narration and description. Such exercises are peculiarly fitted to break up monotonous and unimpressive habits of delivery. STYLE. One of the most important matters to be considered before engaging in a reading or declamatory exercise, is the style or manner, in which the picce should be given. In ARGUMENT, the style must be characterized by directness and earnestness. In DESCRIPTION, the speaker must proceed in precisely the same manner that he would if he were actually describing the thing spoken of. In NARRATION, he must proceed as if narrating some part of his own experience. In PERSUASION, he must use those tones, looks, and gestures only, which he knows are appropriate to persuasion. In EXHORTATION, he must appeal, beseech, and implore, as the case may require. In pieces of a mixed character, he must vary the style to suit the sentiment and character of the passage. When the pupil understands the principles and rules. which have been discussed, sufficiently well to be able to give a correct, practical exemplification of each of them, he ought to select passages for himself, suitable as exercises in cadence, pause, parenthesis, antithesis, climax, amplification, repetition, and transition; also in pitch, force, stress, movement, quantity, in personation, in style, and in every rule in modulation and expression. He must especially practice in every kind of stress, and with every degree of force, from the most subdued whisper to the shout of enthusiastic exultation. GESTURE. Gesture, to be appropriate and impressive, must be natural. When gesture has its origin in the mere caprice of the speaker, it will appear artificial and out of place. The speaker who is unable to manage his voice, is never easy and graceful in his gestures. If the voice is exercised on too high a key, or in a harsh, aspirated, guttural, or impure tone of any kind, the attitude will be stiff and awkward, and the gestures broken, irregular, and difficult. But the speaker who has a good command of his voice, if he understands his subject, and is selff-possessed, will speak with ease; and his gesticulation, if not always graceful, will be appropriate and expressive. Before the pupil can be easy and natural in his action and gesticulation, he must have perfect control of his voice. Any attempt, therefore, which he may give to the cultivation of gesture and action, before he has obtained a good contro' of his voice, will be labor spent in vain. ATTITUDE AND GESTURE IN READING. Stand or sit erect, in an easy and graceful position, and hold the book in the left hand on a level with the face. Look from your book to the audience, as often and as long at a time us you can, without missing the place. Make but. few gestures, and then only when you are looking at your audience. To gesticulate while your eye is resting upon the book, is not only inappropriate, but ridiculous. ACTION IN UNIMPASSIONED DISCOURSE. In didactic or unimpassioned discourse, gesticulation is not necessary, farther than occasionally to slightly change the position and movement of the hands, or to move the head and body sufficiently to look at your audience from right. to left. In discourse of this character the gestures and movements should be executed slowly, and as gracefully as possible. In stating unimportant particulars, or speaking about matters which require a quiet, narrative style, the right arm and hand should be chiefly used. There are three positions in which the hand and arm may rest, and, by slowly changing from one to the other of these positions, stiffness and rigidity in the gestures of the arm will be avoided. First Let the arm hang naturally by the side. Second Let the hand rest upon the hip, the elbow thrown well backward. Third: Let it rest between the buttons of your vest, on your bosom. In all these positions the muscles of the arm and hand must be relaxed, so that the attitude may be, at once, easy and natural. DESCRIPTIVE GESTURES. Descriptive gestures are those used in pointing out or describing objects. The pupil will soon acquire skill in the use of these, by practicing in accordance with the following instructions: EXERCISE XXIII. Pronounce the names of a number of objects near you, and, as you mention the name of each, extend the arm and point the forefinger or the open hand, in the direction of |