speaker seeks to express himself; the words are approximately pronounced, and therefore all is not lost, but the speaker is controlled by some mannerism which thwarts the full expression of what is in his consciousness. Some speakers constantly give the rising inflection, leaving the audience in continued suspense. Others again repeat the "sledgehammer" gesture, till the audience feels like the down man in a pugilistic encounter.

The first effort of this instruction is directed to the freedom of the student, to liberate him from vicious habits of voice and mannerisms of gesture. "I like to be free from all art or rules," says one; that is, a freedom to indulge in mannerisms, however absurd or extravagant. But these same extravagances ride him like a nightmare. They "lead him captive at their will." He acknowledges his bondage, but calls it freedom. Art does not trammel. We plead for the gospel freedom that restrains from doing ill.

Physical and vocal culture are fundamental. The agents of expression must not only be liberated, but developed. The muscular system must be developed symmetrically, the nervous system brought into harmonious action, in order to bring the physical apparatus into prompt and accurate response to the stimuli of thought and emotion.

We grant that the speaker must be a mechanic before he can be an artist. After a mechanical expertness, comes the habit of doing according to the principles of the art. Through the law of the persistency of habit, the speaker finally thinks no more of speaking normally than he does of constructing his sentences grammatically or rhetorically. The caution should be raised here that effective delivery cannot be secured in a few weeks' training. Many will spend years to acquire a tolerable ease in Greek or Latin composition, but complain of being mechanical in delivery after spending a month upon the subject, although a masterly use of expression may be as foreign as Sanskrit. The art of delivery is "no communica

ble trick." Those who have accomplished most at the art have been content to practise long and faithfully.

One more caution. Avoid practising before an audience. Arouse the will, open the ear, giving only as much attention to the voice and action as you do to the grammar and rhetoric of sentences when speaking extemporaneously.

6. — QUALIFICATIONS OF THE Orator.

Under this head we can only hint at the orator's qualifications, without pretending to give an adequate discussion of the subject. To many it may only serve as a reminder.

A fuller discussion of expressive man will be found elsewhere.

(1.) Character. The first indispensable for an orator is noble character. Oratory is the expression of self. Oratory is the man. MAN is true character. Character irresistibly impresses itself on others either favorably or unfavorably. (2.) Truth. -The orator must have the truth, whether he addresses a jury, speaks on the platform or from the pulpit; he should aim at truth, else he has no right to speak.

be

(3.) Thorough Knowledge. The orator The orator should "throughly informed." His knowledge of the subject should be exact, particular, broad. Of too many speakers Bassanio's criticism may be said, "He speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in Venice. His thoughts are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff." Generalities are shallow.

(4.) Store of Facts. He should keep the storehouse of his mind well filled with facts to make plain and enforce the truth. Out of the abundance of his store he should be able to "bring forth things new and old," to illustrate the truth, and reflect it from different angles of the subject.

(5.) Memory is a valuable reliance of the speaker, especially if he uses the extemporaneous or mixed method of address. Without a good memory, this manner of discourse is

quite impracticable. Unless the memory acts promptly to call up the plan and matter of discourse, the speaker will not only hesitate, but will also be subjective in the effort to call up what is needed, and thus fail in uttering the thought to the audi

ence.

(6.) Tact. Another valuable aid is taste and tact, (a) as to arranging the facts of discourse, and (b) in saying the right thing in the right place at the proper time. The audience is sometimes favorable to the truth and to the speaker; frequently it is not; then the subject must be skilfully presented. This does not imply trickery, but wisdom in presenting the truth, so as to gain a favorable hearing.

(7.) Good-Will. The orator must have good-will toward his audience; this will gain their good-will, -a most excellent starting-point. One would think that the compliments introductory to speech, the introductory unpretentiousness of the orator, would finally wear out; but they do not, if not overdone.

(8.) Sincerity. Again, the speaker must be sincere toward the truth, toward the audience. If he "handles the truth deceitfully," or pretends what he really is not, though the audience may not be able to analyze it, the effort is shorn of part of its strength. If the orator is thoroughly sincere, he will be simple. The great orations bear this mark of simplicity. Sink forever the thought of eliciting the applause of a "great orator." Fenelon, in his Dialogue of the Dead, represents Demosthenes as saying to Cicero, "You made the people say, 'How well he speaks'; I made them say, 'Let us march against Philip.'" Follow the advice so frequently given, to use simple words and simple construction.

(9.) Logic should be faithfully studied; not simply a smattering of it, acquired in an abstract way, but studied in relation to spoken discourse.

(10.) Rhetoric. L The same instruction applies to the mastery of rhetoric. Discourse should be made with reference

to oral delivery. Every rhetorical principle should be studied in relation to spoken discourse.

(11.) Imagination. — Imagination is a most valuable faculty of the orator. Bishop Butler calls it "that most forward and obtrusive faculty." It should not usurp the place of logic or fact; but it has a place in oratory that nothing else can supply. Imagination is the picture-making faculty, and in this respect co-operates with the language of gesture in making the facts real.

Speakers instinctively say, "Now you see," or "Let us look at this," and the audience arouses for another look. This is imagination making real to the imagination. This faculty, naturally strong in some, may be cultivated by use. It is of vast advantage to the reader. Through its use scenes and events are called up and pictured with greater vividness. (12.) Knowledge of the Fine Arts. These are related to oratory, as they are modes of expression.

To express himself, the sculptor uses form; the painter, color; the musician, harmonic sound; the architect, proportion. The art of oratory has some correspondence to all these arts. The correspondence may be studied to advantage, and the orator will always find help by being familiar with them. This analogy furnishes us with terms in oratory.

In ordinary language, we speak of "building" a sermon, "making" a speech; all understand what we mean by the "outline" of a discourse, the "music" of an orator's delivery.

We speak of the "florid" style, the "light and shade" of the orator's effort, the "color and tone," and his "form" of delivery.

The art not only borrows from them, but lends to them in turn, so we have an "eloquent" statue, a "speaking" picture, a "noted" building, "telling" more eloquent than words.

(13.) It seems hardly necessary in this connection to recommend to all a familiarity with the best English classics.

Know the Bible and Shakespeare. These two books form a rich mine of wealth for the orator.

Erskine's masterly use of language, for which he was especially noted, is said to have been due to his familiarity with Shakespeare. A knowledge and happy use of Bible facts and illustration have been the strength of many an appeal at the bar, as well as in the pulpit.

Oratory has its favorable and unfavorable conditions. Speakers frequently fail, without being able to account for the failure. At another time everything seems to conduce to

success.

(1.) Occasion.-Occasion must exist for splendid oratory as it does for heroism; but every speaker who desires to serve truth and who has something to say can make an occasion for usual, perhaps for unusual oratory.

(2.) Good Health and Cheerful Mind. - Dyspepsia and other infirmities easily get into the voice.

(3.) Pure Air. — The speaker should live in pure air and speak in pure air. Janitors are usually ignorant or careless upon this matter of ventilation. In most instances the speaker will be obliged to direct the janitor in this particular. The benefit of pure air to a tired audience as well as to a laboring speaker is generally acknowledged and quite as generally neglected.

(See RESPIRATION and VENTILATION, Chapter III.)

(4.) Clothing. The neck dress should be worn loosely, else the vocal organs will be cramped, impeding their function; the blood-vessels of the neck will be gorged, producing hoarseness and sometimes chronic diseases of the throat. Lady readers and others of the fair sex who use their voice must learn that tight lacing is not only a crime against health, but a bar also to the best vocal function.