necessary to produce the desired effect. These abrupt transitions constitute the distinction between Modulation and Inflection, which proceeds in a continuous and unbroken movement from one note of the vocal scale to another.*

Tone.

22. Every person in reading and speaking assumes a certain pitch or key, which may be either high or low, according to the nature of the subject, and which exercises a governing influence on the variations of the voice above and below it. The voice has been considered capable of assuming three such keys—the low, the high, and the middle. From these the inflections may proceed upwards or downwards, ranging through the various degrees of intonation necessary to express the different shades of passion and emotion.

A distinction should be observed between the terms high and low, and loud and soft, which are often but erroneously regarded as synonymous. The latter, like the forte and piano in music to which they precisely correspond, denote merely the degree of force or volume of sound it may be deemed necessary to use in the same key, while the former intimate a change of key altogether. A sound may be high and soft, as well as high and loud. Pitch is thus independent of force, though force adds frequently much to the effect of pitch.

Low Tone.

23. The Low Tone falls below the usual speaking key, and is employed in expressing emotions of fear, caution, secresy, solemnity, and tender emotions generally.

Ex. 15.

O coward conscience, how dost thou affright me!
The light burns blue. It is now dead midnight;
Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
Tread softly, bow the head-

In reverent silence bow.
No passing bell doth toll,
Yet an immortal soul
Is passing now.

Speak low,' he cries, and gives his little hand;
'Mamma's asleep upon the dew cold sand:
Alas! we both with cold and hunger quake:
Why do you weep? Mamma will soon awake.'

In the language of music, from which the term has been borrowed, modulation means the change of the key or mode in conducting the melody; and in a narrower sense the transition from one key to another.

Middle Tone.

24. This is the tone of common discourse, and is used in ordinary conversation, narrative, reflection, &c.

A curions child who dwelt upon a tract
Of inland ground, applying to his ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell;
To which in silence hushed, his very soul
Listened intently; and his countenance soon
Brightened with joy; for murmurings from within
Were heard- sonorous cadences; whereby,
To his belief, the monitor expressed
Mysterious union with its native sea.
Even such a shell the universe itself
Is to the ear of Faith; and there are times,
I doubt not, when to you it doth impart
Authentic tidings of invisible things;
Of ebb and flow, and ever-during power,
And central peace subsisting at the heart
Of endless agitation.

High Tone.

25. The High Tone is that which rises above the usual speaking key, and is used in expressing elevated and joyous feelings and strong emotions.

Ex. 17.

Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen!
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head;
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood;
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!
A thousand hearts are great within my bosom ;
Advance our standards! set upon our foes!
Our ancient word of courage, fair St. George,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!
Upon them! Victory sits on our helms.

Strike-till the last armed foe expires;
Strike for your altars and your fires;
Strike-for the green graves of your sires,
God-and your native land.

Time.

26. Time is an important element in modulation, as much of the sentiment and effect of a passage depends on the slow or rapid utterance with which it is pronounced. Like Tone,

with which it is closely connected in Expression, it may be considered under three heads; as Quick, Moderate, and Slow.

27. Between these limits there may of course be many varieties in the rate or movement of words in speaking. Some writers on Elocution have attempted to apply a definite notation, borrowed from the language of music, to the principal varieties, e. g.

Adagio, very slow.

Andante, middle degree.

Allegro, quick.

Presto, very quick.

Staccato, successive, sharp, distinct tones.
Sostenuto, successive tones blended.
Ritardando, slackening the time.
Accelerando, quickening the time.

Quick Time.

28. Quick Rate is used to express joy, mirth, raillery, violent anger, and excited states generally.

Ex. 18.

Now strike the golden lyre again!

A louder yet, and yet a louder strain!

Break his bands of sleep asunder,

And rouse him like a rattling peal of thunder!
Hark! hark!-the horrid sound

Has raised up his head

As awaked from the dead,

And, amazed, he stares around.

'Revenge! revenge!' Timotheus cries

'See the Furies arise,

See the snakes that they rear,

How they hiss in their hair,

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!
Behold a ghastly band,

Each a torch in his hand;

These are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were slain,
And unburied remain

Inglorious on the plain!

Give the vengeance due
To the valiant crew.

Behold how they toss their torches on high,

How they point to the Persian abodes,

And glitt'ring temples of the hostile gods.'

The princes applaud with a furious joy;

And the king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy;
Thaïs led the way

To light them to their prey,

And, like another Helen, fired another Troy.

Moderate Time.

29. Moderate Rate is used in narrative, description, argu

ment, and unimpassioned speech.

Ex. 19. Once in the flight of ages past

There lived a man; and who was he?
Mortal, howe'er thy lot be cast,
That man resembled thee.

He suffered, but his pangs are o'er;
Enjoyed, but his delights are fled;
Had friends, his friends are now no more;
And foes, his foes are dead.

He saw whatever thou hast seen;

Encountered all that troubles thee:
He was whatever thou hast been;

He is what thou shalt be.

Slow Time.

30. Slow Rate is used to express awe, dignity, deliberation, grief, and solemn discourse generally.

Ex. 20. His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

Ex. 21.

High
Tone.
Middle
Tone.

Short

and

Quick.

High and

Quick.

Very High and

Quick.

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Whereon doth sit the dread and fear of kings.

Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne,
In rayless majesty now stretches forth
Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumberous world.
Silence how dead! and darkness how profound!
Nor eye nor listening ear an object finds:
Creation sleeps. 'Tis as the general pulse
Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause-
An awful pause; prophetic of her end.

Time and Tone combined.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility;

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage.
On! on! you noblest English,

Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers, that like so many Alexanders,

Have in these parts, from morn till even fought,
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot;
Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge,
Cry-Heaven for Harry! England! and St. George!

EMPHASIS.

31. Emphasis is a special stress laid upon one or more words of a sentence, in order to give them the prominence and importance which the author intends. Emphasis generally may be divided into two kinds :

1. Emphasis of Sense.

2. Emphasis of Feeling.

32. Words may be rendered prominent or emphatic in several ways, e.g. By an increased stress of the voice on the emphatic word; by varying the inflection, to denote antithesis, doubt, negation, irony, &c.; by varying the time, by prolonging or abridging the sound of the emphasised word; by altering the pitch, to express any sudden emotion, or in descending from a higher to a lower note, or vice versâ; by the use of monotone, to give expression to solemn or sublime passages; or by the pause, by which the emphatic word is separated from those parts of the sentence which precede or follow it. To determine the emphatic word of a sentence, as well as the degree and kind of emphasis to be employed, the reader must be governed wholly by the sentiment to be conveyed. The idea is sometimes entertained that emphasis consists merely in force or loudness of tone. But it should be borne in mind that the most marked emphasis may often be expressed by a whisper.

Emphasis of Sense.

33. The Emphasis of Sense is a stress laid upon one or more words in a sentence to bring out its meaning more clearly.

34. The reader must be guided in the application of the Emphasis of Sense by the grammatical arrangement of the words of the sentence, and by the relation which the whole sentence bears to the context. The importance of Emphasis is such that, if it be not laid in the proper place, the meaning of the sentence will be completely altered. This will be obvious from the following examples, which have been arranged in the form of question and answer, and it will be seen that the answers vary in each case according to the position of the emphatic word.

Ex. 22.

Variation of the Sense by Emphasis.

Shall you ride to town to-day?

No;

but I shall to-morrow.

Shall you ride to town to-day?

No; I shall ride into the country.

Shall you ride to town to-day?
No; I propose to walk.