Gesler and Tell. KNOWLES. Gesler. WHY speak'st thou not? Ges. Wonder? Tell. Yes; That thou shouldst seem a man. Ges. What should I seem? Tell. A monster! Ges. Ha! Beware! Think on thy chains. Tell. Though they were doubled, and did weigh me down Prostrate to earth, methinks I could rise up Erect, with nothing but the honest pride Of telling thee, usurper, to thy teeth, Thou art a monster! Think upon my chains! Think on my chains! Think on my chains! Ges. Darest thou question me? Tell. Darest thou not answer? Ges. Thou dost. Beware my vengeance. Tell. Can it more than kill? Ges. Enough it can do that. Tell. No- not enough: It cannot take away the grace of life, Its rich attire of honorable deeds, Its fair report, that's rife on good men's tongues; Than it can pluck his brightness from the sun, Ges. But it can make thee writhe. Tell. It may. Ges. And groan. Tell. It may; and I may cry, Go on, though it should make me groan again. Ges. Whence comest thou? Tell. From the mountains. Wouldst thou learn What news from them? Comes unawares upon them; from its bed The torrent breaks, and finds them in its track. Tell. Thank Heaven it is not thou! Thou hast perverted nature in them. The earth While those they have, they see grow up and flourish, As they were things a deadly plague had smit. As something they must lose, and richer were Ges. That's right! I'd have them like their hills, Tell. But they do sometimes smile. Tell. When they do talk of vengeance. Ges. Vengeance? Dare RULE VI. In solemn and sublime passages, the monotone should be used, to give force and dignity to the expression. EXAMPLES. High on a thrōne of royal state, which far On the Value of Time to Man. YOUNG. NIGHT, sable goddess, from her ebon throne, The bell strikes one. We take no note of time But from its loss. Is wise in man. To give it then a tongue, I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright, It is the knell of my departed hours. Where are they? with the years beyond the flood. How much is to be done! My hopes and fears Poor pensioner on the bounties of an hour? A beam ethereal, sullied and absorbed! Triumphantly distressed! what joy, what dread ! What can preserve my life, or what destroy? QUANTITY. Quantity, or time in pronouncing a syllable, when properly applied, renders reading and speaking pleasant and effective to the ear. The first step in this branch of instruction should be the prolongation of the vowel elements, as this is quantity in its elementary state. By proper attention to this exercise, at an early age of instruction, the voice will acquire a bold, mellow tone, which is essential to good reading. Care should be taken, in the pronunciation of syllables, to prolong such elements only as will admit of it without changing their natural sound, and to avoid the slightest drawl. All the long sounds of the vowels are susceptible of prolongation, and in syllables containing them the quantity should principally be applied to the vowel element. Some of the consonant elements do not admit of a protracted utterance; others, when they end a syllable, can be slightly prolonged; as, l, m, n, ng, and r, in the words all, aim, own, song, war. A consonant element at the beginning of a syllable should never be prolonged. Note. Utter each element abruptly, in a full tone of voice, gradually diminishing the sound of it till it ends in silence. Extracts from a Speech delivered in Congress on the Indian Bill. ISAAC C. BATES. SIR, you cannot take a step in the argument towards the result contended for by the friends of this bill, without blot |