REMARKS ON STRESS.

98. INFLECTION is but one of the important elements in the expressive agency of speech.

The next

important element is STRESS, which has reference to the force of voice and the time employed in pronouncing a word. By a well-timed and a wellregulated stress, the speaker is enabled to give utterance to the finest as well as to the sternest emotions, and to express the most intricate subtleties. of thought in all the infinite range and diversified states of our being.

99. When a word is spoken as if it were the continuation, not the close, of utterance, and without any intensity of expression, the voice rises, as if by an instinctive impulse, through what, in the musical scale, is called a "tone." If the word be spoken with such force as to indicate a high degree of excitement, it may be noticed that the voice passes through several intervals or degrees of the scale; and the passage of the voice from the inferior to the superior extreme of this tone, or from one interval of the scale to the other, is denominated the "concrete movement."

100. Let "a," as an alphabetical element, be pronounced according to the above description, and two sounds will be heard continuously successive. The first will be the nominal sound of the letter as it issues from the mouth with a certain degree of fulness, and the last sound noticed will be that of the element "e," gradually diminishing to its close.

101. During the pronunciation, the voice rises by a "concrete movement" through the interval of a "tone," the beginning of "a" and the termination at "e" being severally the extremes of that “tone." The last part of this tone, where sound and silence blend, will be found just one interval in the scale. higher than the first part, if it be uttered as it would be in ordinary unimpassioned conversation; but it will be found to rise through several intervals of the scale, in proportion to the intensity of the excitement with which it may be uttered.

102. Let "a," in the following diagram, be uttered without unusual force or prolongation, and then with additional force, and so prolonged that the "concrete movement shall pass through several intervals of the scale; and the element "e," where sound and silence blend, will show through how many intervals of the scale the "concrete movement" has ascended. Let the pupil be thoroughly exercised on the diagram, in uttering all the vowel elements, and then single words, till he can perceive through what intervals of the scale the voice ranges in uttering any word. In this exercise he will perceive that the number of intervals through which the voice passes in impassioned utterance, will be in proportion to the degree of excitement with which he speaks.

e

8

EXERCISES ON THE ABOVE DIAGRAM.

Vowel Elements.

103. A, E, I, O, U, OU, OI.

Exercise on Words.

104. Hail; hour; you; when; where; lordship; soldier; fame; fond; form; ale; aim; arms; reform; on.

Exercise on Sentences.

105. On, Stanley, on! charge, Chester, charge!

And does not fume speak of me, too?

106. Can it be so? and is it possible that you have made that discovery? Will it take a year to accomplish that task? And did I bid you to bring it to me in a nutshell?

107. It may next be shown, that the voice may take the reverse direction. The "concrete movement" may commence on any of the higher intervals of the scale, with a certain degree of fulness, and descend through several intervals with the same gradually diminishing force which characterized the upward movement, as may be seen by the following diagram. Let the voice be exercised on this scale till its downward progress can be made through all the intervals. The expressions of admiration, wonder, and surprise, are made by the downward movement of the voice. Let the exclamation "Well done! be uttered as if in token of a moderate or high degree of commendation, the voice will descend through an interval of a third or fifth; but if it be uttered as an indication of the highest degree of approbation and joyful surprise, it will be perceived that the voice descends through an interval of an octave.

109. Down; go; depart; retire; fly; move; mine; yours; on; magnanimous; deform; deny; attention; observe.

Exercise on Sentences.

110. Rouse, ye Romans! Rouse, ye slaves!

You shall die, base dog!—and that before yon cloud has passed over the sun.

111. On such occasion, I will place myself on the extreme boundary of my right, and bid defiance to the arm that would push me from it.

112. For the purpose of elevating the business of instruction, and showing the instrumentality of the voice in the delicate work of expression, it will be necessary to analyze the peculiar structure of the "concrete movement," in order to show how force and stress may be applied to its parts when we would give a correct and vivid expression to the sentiments of an author.

113. Let the first part of this movement be called the "radical movement," and the last part be called the "vanishing movement." If, in the utterance of an element or word, force be applied to the "radical movement," it is called the "radical stress." If force

be applied to the "vanishing movement," it is called the "vanishing stress," or "final stress." If force of utterance be applied to the middle portion of the "concrete movement," it is then called the "median stress."

REMARKS ON THE RADICAL STRESS.

114. "Radical stress" is an explosive burst of voice at the beginning of the "concrete movement." In its execution it is requisite that there should be a momentary occlusion of the throat, where the breath is barred and accumulated for a full and sudden discharge. The power of giving a full and well-defined "radical stress" is a rare accomplishment; the proper management of it contributes to distinctness of enunciation.

115. It is that master function of the voice which is called for in the expression of the most abrupt and startling emotions. It is the proper symbol of energy and of violence. It adds an increased degree of impressiveness to the expressions of anger, wrath, impatience, and all other kindred emotions. It is employed in the imperative words of authority; and the management of it, in a modified degree, is of signal importance in giving force and beauty to brisk, lively, and humorous sentiments.

REMARKS ON THE MEDIAN STRESS.

116. The "median stress" is that gradual strengthening and subsequent diminution of sound, during