An unnaturally low key as the prevailing pitch, may indeed be made audible over a large space, by increased exertion, or by a monotonous drawl, but the effect will be as disagreeable as the effort is strained and unnatural.

There is an apparent exception to this statement, in that delivery which is characterized by great depth of emotion and impressiveness of manner. In such cases, however, it is the great energy and extreme slowness of the utterance, that compensate for the absence of a high pitch; these are never exhibited except when the speaker is deeply interested, and makes a strongly impassioned appeal. If his delivery is simply didactic or familiar, his voice naturally rises.

The question however will occur, how is it that some men speak with great rapidity, and yet succeed in making themselves intelligible to large audiences? This is effected principally by means of that familiar energy which owes its liveliness and spirit to a very strong accent. Accent in such cases, is given by radical stress upon all, and especially upon the principal syllables. This sudden and expulsive effort of the vocal organs gives an impulse to the sound-waves of the air, which makes them move more rapidly, and causes the sounds to reach the required distance in less time. We shall find however, that even such speakers do not utter as many words in the same period of time, when addressing large assemblies, as when speaking to smaller ones. Their delivery, being characterized by more of the tone of conversation, is in fact less rapid than it appears to be.

The rule, then, for adapting the voice to the size of an audience, is to trust confidently to the natural instinct which enables a person to adapt his voice to different distances in conversation.

If an unpractised speaker fails at any time of being heard, let him take more pains in his next effort, and afterwards inquire of a friend how he has succeeded. After one or two

such inquiries, it will need but little experience to enable him to place full confidence in his own judgment.

Attitude and Gesture should also be adapted to the size of the audience. The rules for this are simple. The farther off the more distant part of the hearers, the more erect will be the speaker's natural attitude, in order that the countenance and eye may easily address them. The higher also will the arm be raised, that the palm of the hand may appeal to them in gesture. When the audience is small and very near the speaker, his body, in earnest address, bends forward at the hips, that he may look them full in the face, while for a similar reason, the arm in gesture is somewhat lowered. See p. 41.

ADAPTATION TO ECHO OF ROOMS.

It is universally known that some rooms are more favorable than others for both speaker and hearer.

Any room, however, is better than the open air. The walls and ceiling even of the worst, assist the speaker by rendering his voice more musical, and therefore more expressive in its tone. They produce an effect similar to that of the sounding board of a piano, not only in this respect, but also in causing less strength to be required for mere audibility. Even music will sound tame and spiritless in the open air, unless the instruments are of great power and played with energy. This is one of the principal reasons why military bands at the present day make almost exclusive use of brass instruments.

A well constructed room assists the voice by its reverberation, and an artist in delivery may be considered as one who makes joint use of two instruments for operating on his audience, viz. his voice and an echoing room. Such a room gives a reverberation strong and distinct, but not so rapid as to make one echo mingle with another, and thus produce a confusion of sounds.

Rooms which are difficult or disagreeable to speak in, are of two kinds.

1st. The reverberation may be too feeble. In this case the voice sounds more or less as in the open air. It seems dead and inexpressive, and the speaker is apt instinctively to exert himself more than is necessary, even when he is only aiming to be distinctly and easily heard. Clergymen for this reason complain of such rooms, that they are hard and fatiguing to speak in, and say they find it difficult to fill them. If the room be small, this complaint proceeds from a mistake made by the speaker's ear he being accustomed to hear a reverberation, by which he is guided in judging whether his voice is audible. But if large, he is really required to fatigue himself by great exertions, to attain his object.

In such a case, if the speaker wishes his voice to sound expressive and interesting, it is absolutely necessary that he use far greater stress of voice and enunciation, than in a room of the same size, which has a stronger reverberation. He must be guided by the actual sound of his voice in the room, and if speaking in one very unfavorable, sometimes needs to make exhausting efforts to produce a satisfactory effect.

On the other hand, the echo in some rooms is rapid and multiplying. Being several times repeated, great confusion of sounds results. Not only are there several reverberations of a single syllable, or of a note in music, but each is so quick, that one does not die away before the next syllable or note succeeds, causing both sounds to be mingled together. Such rooms make a speaker appear to have a very indistinct articulation, and when so situated, he must proceed with a careful slowness, and a studied regularity of rhythm. By adapting his voice accurately in these respects, his articulation will sound distinct and clear, instead of confused and obscure. He must also guard against being too loud. Too great strength of voice will produce a reverberation too powerful.

It is by means of the echo, that a practised speaker knows when his voice fills the room. Many persons, who think they have been speaking with great loudness, are surprised when told that they were not readily heard. This mistake proceeds from their attention having been occupied by the physical exertion they were making in the throat, instead of listening to the sound of their voices in the room, and the consequent reverberation. This habit of doing nothing more than watch one's own internal efforts, is fatal to success, and indeed to mere ease of speaking.

In strong delivery there is, likewise, a ringing or crash of the speaker's voice about his own ears, which in fact proceeds. from a vibration of the bones in his head, and which is rather disagreeable if he suffers his attention to be occupied with it. This also causes some to mistake as to the degree of loudness which they actually employ. Let the speaker turn his attention wholly away from such bodily sensations, and listen, as it were, to his voice after it has issued from him, observing how it sounds in the distance. By attending to this point, he will soon learn to judge how it actually sounds to others, and especially to those at some distance from him. If he adapts his voice well to a room that is large yet favorable, it is pleasanter for an auditor to be at some distance from him; and the common habit of preferring the nearest seats, is owing to the prevailing carelessness of speakers in regulating their voices.

Young men when practising elocution, often complain of the disagreeable sound of their voices in an empty room. Perhaps some of their companions may be present, and declare their speaking not to be loud enough, while on the other hand, they either assert that their voices sound too loud to themselves, or complain of the echo. The above considerations explain both these mistakes. When the voice is accurately adapted to a room, there will be no confusion of echo, even if the loudness is absurdly great. The presence or absence of an audience,

makes no difference in this respect. The only difference resulting from the presence of numerous auditors, is that the reverberation is less strong, and that generally there is more or less of a rustling noise from an assembly-both which circumstances deaden the sound of the speaker's voice, and make the reverberation less perceptible. The greatest difficulty that speakers have to encounter from an audience, results from the carelessness of those who enter the room with a loud tread.

The strength of even the weakest human voices, is greater than seems to be generally known. It was necessary for a Greek actor to be able to make himself distinctly audible to thirty thousand people, and that too in a theatre without a roof. We have never met with a voice, where there has been no disease of the throat or lungs, which was not capable, after a little cultivation, of filling the largest audience rooms, and that too without a disagreeable effort.

ADAPTATION TO RESTLESS AUDIENCES.

The most common difficulty in this respect, proceeds from the entrance of a number of persons after the speaker has commenced his address. The only remedy is to employ such a degree of deliberate force and distinctness, as shall reach to the very extremity of the room, and immediately attract the attention of those who are just entering.

When an audience is noisy from restlessness or inattention, the chief means for stilling it will be, to alternate passages of force, power and energy of delivery, with those of low, distinct and impressive tones. In such a situation, the most important quality for a speaker is steadiness and deliberate self-possession. If he exhibits a sort of nervous excitement, the audience will grow more noisy from sympathy. A marked and pointed style of address, likewise, and especially a striking emphasis, are often necessary. At the same time, a forcible and very distinct articulation should be invariably used in such circumstances.