In expelling the vowel-sounds we find the first one in each measure is strongly accented. Now this accent is the element of emphasis. Let us give it several times, as heretofore, and increase in strength and loudness in each succeeding effort.

A as in ale is the name sound of a, and must receive the same kind and amount of practice as the preceding sound. Ace, ache, age. This is always the sound of the article a when contrasted with the word the; as, I said a man, not the man; a book, not the book; a horse, not the horse; a knife, not the knife; a star, not the star.

Now let us again expel this sound, and instead of making the emphasis, we will prolong the sound equally, as we did the first a.

Let us do the same, but give the swell and diminish instead of the last equal long sound.

Let us notice particularly the important principles here indicated, which are the expulsion of sounds, the accented and unaccented syllables, the emphasis, and the measure of speech and song, for these elements are involved in every word and sentence. The practice of these different sounds, according to examples, is for drilling and educating the organs to produce the sounds distinctly, clearly, and musically; and, as these vowels are all distinct sounds, not one should be neglected. Pupils might expect as rationally to perfect themselves in all the notes in the musical scale by practicing one or two as to think to render all these sounds correctly by practicing one or two of them. Each one requires a different position of the organs, and, of course, exercise on that position to insure strength of the class of muscles used.

The third sound of A is broad; and is so called because in making it the mouth is, perpendicularly, more opened, or broader, than it is when we make other sounds of the same letter. This is shown by dropping and projecting the jaw, bringing the corners of the mouth nearer together, and projecting the lips. Awe, all, awl, Al-ba-ny, al-be-it, al-most, al-ter, al-ways, au-burn, au-dit, au-ger, au-thor, au-tumn, aw-ful, pal-frey, wa-ter (not wot-ter, as many say.)

"Once the welcome light was broken, who shall say

What the unimagined glories of the day?

What the evil that shall perish in its ray?
Aid the dawning, tongue and pen;

Aid it, hopes of honest men;

Aid it, paper; aid it, type;

Aid it, for the hour is ripe,

And our earnest must not slacken into play.

Men of thought and men of action, CLEAR THE WAY!"

We will practice these sounds as before, and see if we can not improve our manner of giving them by making the accent and the emphasis more prominent and musical: AWE-awe-awe. Being careful to observe the important points in this exercise, let us repeat, and give the long equal sound instead of the emphatic one. In making all the long single sounds we must keep the mouth and lips in the same position, from beginning to end, whether we make them equal all the way, or give the swell and diminish.

The fourth sound of A is short, because we can not prolong it at all without changing this peculiar characteristic, as may be seen by trying it: ab, ac, ad, ap, ag, al, am, an, and, apt, as, ash, asp, at, ab-bot, ac-cent, ag-ile, af-ter, al-ley, am-ple, An-na, ap-ple, ar-row, as-pen, ax-es, hash, dash, can, fast, rash, sat, trap, rat, rams. Many incorrectly tell us to give a long, intermediate sound to this a, nearly like the radical sound, as in fa-ther; but this is entirely wrong, and comes from their not opening the mouth properly, and bringing forward its corners so as to avoid a very unpleasant nasal, whining sound. Thus they run from one extreme into another. Beware of such mistakes in this class of words-grasp, pass, etc.

In passing from the radical sound into a in all and ale, and in gliding into a in at, we see in the former case that there is a continuous sound, which is called long because it can be continued without alteration; while in the latter it was instantly stopped because it is a short sound, and never can be prolonged in speech without being altered or changed into something else. Let us try them again, and we shall see the marked difference between long and short sounds.

To give the short sounds of a in mat, rat, cat, etc., open wide the mouth, project the under jaw and lips, and let them play freely in speaking such words as has, cast, etc. If any attempt is made to prolong this sound in such words as his and hat, it will run into the sound of e, as hah-et, hi-es. This short explosive sound can not be made without a violent effort of the abdominal muscles.

"Poison be their drink,

Gall,-worse than gall,-the daintiest meat they taste;
Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees;

Their sweetest prospects-mouldering basalisks;

Their music frightful-as the serpent's hiss;

And boding screech-owls make the concert full."

"Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stand waiting, with exactness grinds he all."

CHAPTER VI.

VOCAL GYMNASTICS, CONTINUED- -SOUNDS OF E; SOUNDS OF I; SOUNDS OF 0; SOUNDS OF U-QUANTITY AND QUALITY.

E has two regular sounds; first, the name-sound, which is capable of great prolongation, and must receive practice on all the examples given for the long and broad sounds of a. Eve, east, eel.

The second sound of E is short, because we can not prolong it without altering it. Ebb, edge, egg, eld, elf, emblem, en-ter, ep-ic, er-rand, Es-sex, eth-ics, er-ror, ex-cel, ex-cept, ex-empt, ex-pense, ex-tend, beg, cell, dell, pen, gem, hen, jest, let, met, net, pet, guess, rent, sell, test, vest, well, yes, rest. Any attempt to prolong this sound will give us the mongrel sound æ as in short a.

In expelling this short sound of e we must remember and distinguish those important things, accent, emphasis, etc. We must be particular to drop and project the jaw a little in making this sound. "Ye clouds that gorgeously repose

Around the setting sun,

Answer! have ye a home for those
Whose earthly race is run?

The bright clouds answer'd-'We depart,
We vanish from the sky;

Ask what is deathless in thy heart

For that which can not die!'"

"Joys, that leap'd

Like angels from the heart, and wander'd free

In life's young morn to look upon the flowers,

The poetry of nature, and to list

The woven sounds of breeze, and bird, and stream

Upon the night air, have been stricken down

In silence to the dust."

I has two regular sounds: we give the first sound, which is long, in speaking its name. When pronounced in full it is diphthongal, commencing with the sound of ah and ending with e. Ice, ides, ire, isle, i-dle, i-ron (i-urn), i-o-ta, i-vo-ry, bide, cite, drive, mite, nine, pie, ride, site, tile, vile, wine, etc.

pine, knife, hide, What part of a sound

should be prolonged? As a general rule, the radical part, which is

where the vocal organs first open on the sound. But i long is an exception. The first radical ah sound glides into ee. Therefore the position of the organs must change. In giving this name-sound of i we must be very cautious about having the organs in the right position, and making the proper effort from the lower muscles before alluded to. The second sound of I is short. If, ill, imp, in, ink, inch, inn, is, it, itch, illi-cit, im-be-cile, in-ci-dent, in-dis-tinct, in-hab-it, in-quis-i-tive, in-sip-id, in-stinct, in-di-vis-i-bility, is-o-late; hid, cid, did, fib, gilt, hilt, jib, kid, lid, mit, nit, pin, quip, sit, tin, victim, wish, zinc.

Let us remember that in expelling the vowel-sounds we are practicing some of the most important principles involved in reading, speaking, and singing—measure, accent, and emphasis.

A peculiarly soft sound is given to i when it follows the hard guttural sound of g and k. Begin by making two syllables out of one, and then gradually shorten them into one by degrees, speaking them faster and faster. Begin thus: gee-ide, gee-ide, gee-ide, gyide; kee-ind, kee-ind, kee-ind, ky-ind, kyind; geear-di-an; kyind-ness, lov-ingkyind-ness; which gives us a very soft and pleasant sound, both in speech and song. Let us make our language as agreeable as possible, and we can produce much better effects.

"Laughing voices, scraps of song,

Lusty music, loud and strong,
Rustling of the banners blowing,
Whispers as of rivers flowing,
Whistle of the hawks we bore
As they rise and as they soar;
Now and then a clash of drums
As the rabble louder hums,
Now and then a burst of horns

Sounding over brooks and bourns,
As in merry guise we went
Riding to the tournament."

O has three regular sounds: first, its name-sound, or long. Make the long name-sounds full and complete, by giving them plenty of room. Coal, dole, home, hope, dome, hole, ho-ly, mole, hone, mote, note, pole, role, sole, stole, whole, whol-ly, whole-some.

Swell of voice is seen when we begin with a little sound, and gradually increase or widen it as we give it continuously. This is a very important practice, but the sound should be given smoothly as it becomes louder and longer. We will now expel this long sound of o by giving the accented, unaccented, and emphatic sounds, as before, with the pure measure of speech and song. This is an excellent

sound to prolong; but we must be sure to keep the mouth well opened, by dropping and projecting the under jaw, protruding the rounded lips, and keeping all the organs in the same state till we complete the exercise.

organs, from

In making the swells and diminish with this sound, as with all the other single long sounds, we must not move any of the beginning to end, thus shoving the sound, as it might be said.

"O world! O life! O time!

On whose last steps I climb,

Trembling at that where I had stood before;
When will return the glory of your prime?
No more-oh, nevermore.

Out of the day and night

A joy has taken flight;

Fresh Spring, and Summer, and Winter hoar,
Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight

No more-oh, nevermore."

The second sound of O is close-oo; so called because the lips and internal vocal organs are brought close together in pronouncing it; as ooze, oo-zy, oo-zing; coo, do, fool, roof, soot, tool, moon, loom, cool, doom, hoop, noon, poor, boo-by, cool-ing, do-ing, fool-ing, poo-dle, goose, soup, tooth. In prolonging equally this close sound of o we must not pucker the lips too much, but rather turn them out a little all around, like a funnel.

The third sound of O is short; and, like the other short sounds, can not be prolonged. Odd, of, off, on, or, oz, ob-ject, oc-tave, of-fer, om-e-let, on-ward, op-e-ra, or-der, bod-kin, con-ceit, cob-bler, dol-lar, fol-ly, gog-gles, hob-by, jol-ly, mod-el, non-sense, rob-in, yon-der, bot-tle, dot-ted, fop-pish, gob-ble, jock-ey, knock-er, lot-te-ry, mon-ument, non-plus, pop-py, wan-ton, etc.

In expelling this short sound of o, and giving the proper accent, etc., let us vocalize all the breath that escapes, so as to prevent unpleasant sensations in the throat and injury to the sounds; and by remembering how we pronounce the forbidding word to children, "Och, och, och! let that alone," we shall be the better able to do it.

U has three regular sounds: first, its name-sound, because it is the sound we make in speaking its name. At least we get this sound pure in the word you. Un-ion, u-nique, u-ni-son, u-ni-ty, u-ni-form, u-nit.

When the name-sound of u is at the beginning of a word or syllable, it has a triple sound; that is, it is a diphthong, composed of