The American Union Speaker | Page 5

persons whose articulation is good, and if, from the
earliest years, he is trained to speak with deliberation and distinctness,
he will in most cases have a good articulation for conversational
purposes, without special drilling on the elements.
II. THAT WHICH RELATES TO THE EXPRESSION OF
THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, INCLUDING THE QUALITIES
AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE.

This branch of vocal gymnastics comprises, first the appropriate
discipline of the voice for its formation and development, by
strengthening it, by extending its compass, and by improving its quality
so as to render it full, sonorous, and agreeable; and, secondly, the
training of the voice in those modifications which are used in the
expressions of thought and feeling, including all that variety of
management which appears in the delivery of a good speaker.
STRENGTH. To secure the requisite strength of voice should be our
first aim in a course of vocal culture. So important was this element of
elocutionary training considered by the Athenians, that they had a class
of teachers who were wholly devoted to it as a specialty. The zeal and
perseverance of Demosthenes in correcting the natural deficiencies of
his voice, have passed into a proverb. How he was accustomed to run
up the steepest hills, and to declaim on the sea-shore, when the waves
were violently agitated, in order to acquire strength of voice and force
of utterance is known to every school-boy.
If strength of voice is of paramount importance to the speaker, it is also
an element which is very susceptible of cultivation. Professor Russell
says,--"The fact is familiar to instructors in elocution, that persons
commencing practice [in vocal gymnastics] with a very weak and
inadequate voice, attain, in a few weeks, a perfect command of the
utmost degrees of force." As has already been intimated, the strength of
the voice depends directly upon the condition and use of the respiratory
organs, including the larynx, and indirectly upon the general health and
vigor of the whole physical system. The volume of breath which can be
inhaled, and the force with which it can be expelled determine the
degree of energy with which vocal sounds are uttered. This fact affords
a clear indication of the proper mode of developing the strength of the
voice. It is evident that the exercises which have for their object the
strengthening of the voice, should also be adapted to develop and
perfect the process of breathing. The student should be frequently
trained in set exercises in loud exclamations, pronouncing with great
force the separate vowel sounds, single words, and whole sentences,
and at the same time taking care to bring into vigorous action, all the
muscular apparatus of respiration. Shouting, calling, and loud
vociferation, in the open air, both while standing, and while walking or
running, are, with due caution, effective means of acquiring vigor of

utterance. Children when at play are instinctively given to vociferation,
which should be permitted, whenever practicable. One of the most
remarkable examples of the extent to which the power of voice may be
developed, is that of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the celebrated itinerant
preacher. Having listened to his preaching in the open air, in
Philadelphia, on a certain occasion, Dr. Franklin found by computation,
that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand auditors. It is
said that the habit of speaking gave to the utterance of Garrick so
wonderful an energy, that even his under-key was distinctly audible to
ten thousand people. Dr. Porter sums up this matter thus :--"The public
speaker needs a powerful voice; the quantity of voice which he can
employ, at least can employ with safety, depends on his strength of
lungs; and this again depends on a sound state of general health. If he
neglects this, all other precautions will be useless."
COMPASS. When a person is engaged in earnest conversation, his
voice spontaneously adopts a certain key or pitch. This is called the
natural or middle key, and it varies in different persons. Pitt's voice, it
is said, was a full tenor, and Fox's a treble. When a speaker is incapable
of loud and forcible utterance on both high and low notes, his voice is
said to be wanting in compass. Webster's voice was remarkable for the
extent of its compass, ranging with the utmost ease, from the highest to
the lowest notes, required by a spirited and diversified delivery; and
such was said to be the versatility of Whitefield's vocal power, that he
could imitate the tones of a female, or the infant voice, at one time, and
at another, strike his hearers with awe, by the thunder of his under-key.
The want of compass is more frequently the result of bad habits of
speaking and imperfect training than of incapacity of the vocal organs.
Mr.