Elecution [pp. 705-708]

706 LADIES' REPOSITORY.
books, to read and speak by, but neither in schools kind, trusti,ng wvords of friendship; could we not
nor in colleges is there any systematic cultivation express to one another our aspirations for goodof the voice by thoroulgh and persistent practice. ness onl earth, and our hopes of happiness in
The human voice is a "harp of a thousand heaven; had we not the faculty of communicating
strings," which, played upon by a master-spirit, from mindl to mind the great truth of nature, the
makes music more beautiful than the "sweet great discoveries of her laws, the great facts of
stops" of flutes, more grand than the sound of the world's experience and skill; in short, were
"many waters;" but, twani,ged by the Yanlkce's we without the power of language, though withl
breath, its nasal monotony rasps the nerves like a all the other powers we now possess, " what
wooden nuttmeg-grater; struck by the Hoosier's thlrice-mocked fools were we!" Dumb! dumb!
coarse expirations. it gives out "great shocks of Dumb the honeyed lips of love! DumLb the
sound," like the stump-speech of an Indiana thrilling tongue of friendship! Dumb the big,
bullfrog; and swept by the southerner's imapetu- bturningii heart of philanthrophy! Dumb the rapous spirit, it is quite as pathetic as the tears of tuirous spirit of religion! Dumb the great, broad
Floridian crocodiles. Of this thousand-stringed soul of geniaus! dumb! dumb! What a world
harp, nine hundred and ninety-nine of the chords would it be, with nothing but the inarticulate
are commonly left untouched, unttuned, unstrlung. and brute bleatings, the uncouth and unmeaning
And still other faculties suffer from the neglect noises of the animal instincet, to indicate the wonof practical elocution. All the social virtues are derfutl. workings of the intelligent, immortal soul!
more slackly enjoyed among a people by whom Without language, how could we endure to live?
beautiful talking is slighted, and with whom chill "O God!" we should implore, "give our souls a
silence is respectable custom. Love languishes, voice, or let us (lie!"
firiendship cools, the home affections grow frigid Since, then, speech is so important a faculty of
and sullen, with the one-stringed voice and un- our nature, is it not surprising, that wve treat it so
gesticulating manner of modern conversation. slightly, and so rarely cast a thought on its culIdeality, that sunward eagle of high civilization, ture? indeed, that, so far from taking pains to
droops; imitation, merchant of the arts, pines improve the voice, we tone it down to a cold
away; and the faculties of benevolence, music, mlannerism, for fear of offeniding, againlst taste, by
time-indeed, almost all the organs of the mind, expressilng in it any emotion? Hardly any one
are stunted and dvwarfed for want of voice. reads or speaks even as well as he might, ashamed
It is the fault of our education. This, to be of his own heartbeats, afraid of betraying the
efficient for the full development of manhood and weakness of his soul! So far from following ua womanhood, must compass all the faculties. Too ture, we do not even follow art, nature's first
mnuch pains are given to train a few intellectual cousin.
powers, to the neglect of the many, thus impair- Nearly all the elocution we have left, is among,
inlg the energy of even those which are so fa- the little children before the voice has yet learned
vored; for the mind canl not act freely and to play hypocrite for the heart. Listen to them
healthfully with some of its parts impotent, any in their unconstrained plays; in their little bursts
more than can the body with some of its mem- of joy; in their moments of sorrow; in their
bers paralyzed. The remedy must be found in a living earnestness and artless enthusiasm; and
more integral education —in a broader and more learn what is lost inll becoming men and women.
thorough cultivation of the whole nature. Every Elocution is one of the most natural of arts-if
endowiment that God has given us, was conferred the solecism may be allowed; for it would hardly
for exercise and improvement-to be expressed in require to be learnied at all, if men did not have
use, and educated up to its highest capability, to Iunlearn their false education to bet back to iia But, of all the gifts with which God has en- ture's truths. The arl of elocution is almost born
dlowe(l his human creature, that of speech is the in us; and it is only by the most culpable negli most conspicuous, the most distinguishiiig. It is gence, the most shameful perversion, that the
~ this which gives to man his pre-emninence over all majority of men and women can not speak with
the rest of the animal kingdom-this is the sep- half the naturalness, force, and eloquence of little
arating step between the finite inistinet and the children. The slow, frigid, monotonous way we
infinite reason. To the articulate voice, more have of learning to read, together with the cold
than to any thing else, man owes his ascenidency conventionalities of society, which curdle the
ill the creatioii. W~ere we dumb, like the brutes; milk of human kindness-makes us mere talking could we not touch the ear of love with the flinty machines, with rusty springs and broken cogs.
tones of tenderness; were we unable to utter the It is high time that we all set about learning to
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