knowledge, of acquirement, the result of diligent and patient study, and if, moreover, they have the "oratorical instinct," then I am sure the results will not be fruitless.

The book is meant for the class-room, for the teacher, for the student, as well as for the general reader, and I have endeavored to give abundant opportunity for putting the suggestions and rules into practice. Practice is the main thing. The student must do the work; the teacher may help him do it on the right lines.

My thanks are due to the distinguished gentlemen who so kindly responded to my request for suggestions to young men who wish to be public speakers. The chapter containing their suggestions is certainly the most interesting and helpful in this volume.

I also desire to acknowledge my obligations to Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., New York, for permission to make the use I have made of Mandeville's "Elements of Reading and Oratory"; to Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls, New York, for permission to quote from Shepard's "Before an Audience"; to the Penn Publishing Co., Philadelphia, the publishers of Henry Ward Beecher's "Oratory," from which, by their kind permission, I have taken extracts; and to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, pub'ishers of the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

READING AND SPEAKING.

"I hope that you will from the start cultivate Elocution. The power of speaking with grace and energy, the power of using aright the best words of our noble language, — is itself a fortune, and a reputation,— if it is associated and enriched by knowledge and sense. I would, therefore, give a special attention to all that is required of you in this department. But not one study prescribed by the government is to be neglected." — RUFUS CHOATE, in a letter to his son, then a student in Amherst College.

66

Eloquence is the power to translate a truth into language perfectly intelligible to the person to whom you speak.” — RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

"I define oratory to be the art of influencing conduct with the truth set home by all resources of the living man." - HENRY WARD BEECHER.

"Deliberative eloquence, in its highest forms and noblest exertion, is the utterances of men of genius,— practiced, earnest, and sincere, according to a rule of art,-in presence of large assemblies, in great conjuncture of public affairs, to persuade a people." - RUFUS CHOATE.

OF THE

How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath to say to

me that thou art out of breath?
Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again.

Romeo and Juliet.

King Henry IV.

My first suggestion is that you learn to breathe properly. Nothing is more important than the ability to control the breath. It is not my province to speak of the physiology of the vocal organs, of the lungs, of the chest cavity, of the midriff or diaphragm. Any modern elementary work on physiology will furnish all the necessary information at a trifling expense of money and time. I do not claim that there is anything new in what I shall say. There are several authorities on the subject. Sir Morell Mackenzie, Oskar Guttmann, Leo Kofler, have given valuable suggestions; and so have Dr. Lenox Browne and Emil Bhenke in their "Voice in Speech and Song," a work which I can recommend, and to which I am indebted for much that follows. There are three ways by which the chest may be enlarged and air taken into the lungs.

1. By raising the shoulders, collar-bones, and upper part of the chest. This is called clavicular or collar-bone breathing.

3

2. By extending the lower or floating ribs sideways. This is called lateral or costal breathing.

3. By flattening the midriff or diaphragm, -the "great breathing muscle," as Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes calls it. This is called midriff or diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing.

The lungs rest upon the midriff; and, when this powerful muscle is flattened, they must follow. At the same time the abdomen is protruded, because its contents are pushed downward by the midriff. The lower ribs are also pushed out by the same muscle, so that costal and midriff breathing take place together almost invariably. I believe that the best authorities agree that they should take place together; thus the chest cavity is enlarged where its walls offer the least resistance, and where the lungs are the largest.

No speaker should ever employ clavicular breathing even in combination with costal and midriff breathing. It forces the upper chest walls up against the root of the throat, and has a tendency to congest the blood-vessels and tissues there. It necessitates controlling the exit of the breath by the glottis, which was not made for that purpose. Throaty tones, "speaker's sore throat," and kindred troubles are largely due to this method of breathing and of controlling the breath. It follows that an abandonment of clavicular breathing, and the practice of deep breathing (costal and midriff breathing combined) often cure sore throats, and correct faulty tones.

When the speaker breathes-inspires - by flattening the midriff, he is able to control the breath by that strong muscle. As long as he holds it down, the air that he has taken in remains in the lungs, just as water remains in the cells of a sponge as it lies in the open hand. Close the