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"The pillared firmament is rottenness

And earth's base built on stubble.'

Thus, force of being, to labor, to create, to pluck out the heart of nature's mystery, — this is the law of Genius."— E. P. Whipple.

"There are many-who say, God is near or far off, that his wisdom or his goodness appear quite specially in one age or another, truly this is idle deception; is he not the unchangeable, eternal Love, and does he not love us and bless us at one hour just as much as at another? As we ought, properly, to call the eclipse of the sun, an eclipse of the earth, so it is man who is obscured, never the Infinite; but we are like the people who look at the obscuration of the sun in the water, and then, when the water trembles, cry out, 'See how the glorious sun struggles!'" — Richter.

"There is a fine engraving of Jean Paul Richter, surrounded by floating clouds, all of which are angels' faces; but so soft and shadowy, that they must be sought for, to be perceived. It was a beautiful idea thus to environ Jean Paul, for whosoever reads him with earnest thoughtfulness will see heavenly features perpetually shining forth through the golden mists of rolling vapor. Remember This picture embodies a great spiritual truth. In all clouds that surround the soul, there are angel faces, and we should see them if we were calm and holy. It is because we are impatient of our destiny, and do not understand its use in our eternal progression, that the clouds which envelop it seem like black masses of thunder, or cold and dismal obstructions of the sunshine. If man looked at his being as a whole, or had faith that all things were intended to bring him into harmony with the divine will, he would gratefully acknowledge that spiritual dew and rain, wind and lightning, cloud and sunshine, all help his growth, as their natural forms bring to maturity the flowers and grain. Whosoever quarrels with his fate, does not understand it,' says Bettine; and among all her inspired sayings, she spoke none wiser.” — Mrs. L. M. Child.

"The simplest faith, be it only deep and trustful, the very smallest idea of a mission in life assigned by God, - be it only lovingly and clearly seen, 'lifteth the poor out of the dust,' and 'to them that have no might increaseth strength.', As of old it banished disease, and couched the blind, and soothed the maniac, by miracles of power, so does it still heal and bless by its miracles of love. It puts a divine fire into the dullest soul, and draws in

Saul also among the prophets; it turns the peasant into the apostle, and the apostle's meanest follower into the martyr."James Martineau.

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"A little consideration of what takes place around us every day would show us, that a higher law than that of our wills regulates events; that our painful labors are unnecessary and fruitless; that only in our simple, easy, spontaneous action are we strong, and by contenting ourselves with obedience we become divine. Belief and love, a believing love will relieve us of a vast load of care. my brothers, God exists. There is a soul at the centre of nature, and over the will of every man, so that none of us can wrong the universe. It has so infused its strong enchantment into nature, that we prosper when we accept its advice, and when we struggle to wound its creatures, our hands are glued to our sides, or they beat our own breasts. The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word." - Emerson.

OROTUND QUALITY.

The Orotund is the pure tone deepened, and intensified for the expression of the more earnest and vehement passages of feeling, or the profound emotions of the soul.

It produces a greater resonance in the head and chest, requires depression in the larynx, opening of the throat, extension of the mouth, and expansion of the whole chest.

Exercises upon this tone are admirably adapted to strengthen the vocal organs, and give life and spirit to the student of oratory; being also important, in a physical point of view, by strengthening and expanding the lungs.

It is the only kind of voice appropriate to the master style of epic and dramatic reading, the full body of the tone giving satisfactory expression to sentiments associated with dignity and grandeur.

Orotund quality admits of three degrees, called, according to the intensity of emotion, effusive, expulsive, and explosive orotund, (corresponding to effusive, expulsive, and explosive breathing.) In other cases it is combined with aspiration, being rendered impure by violence of emotion and force of breath.

Effusive orotund is heard in the utterance of sentiments of solemnity and pathos, when mingled with grandeur and sublimity. It is also the appropriate tone of reverence and adoration.

Examples.

"Being faithful

To thine own self, thou art faithful too to me:

If our fates part, our hearts remain united.

A bloody hatred will divide forever
The houses of Piccolomini and Friedland;

But we belong not to our houses - Go!

Quick! quick! and separate thy righteous cause

From our unholy and unblessed one!"

Thekla to Max. THE DEATH OF WALLENSTEIN. -Schiller

"Ah wasteful woman! she who may

On her sweet self set her own price
Knowing he cannot choose but pay —

How has she cheapened Paradise!

How given for nought her priceless gift,

How spoiled the bread and spill'd the wine,
Which, spent with due, respective thrift,
Had made brutes men, and men divine!"

Coventry Patmore.

"Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise,
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thine eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabean springs!
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rising Sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;

But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,

One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze

O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away:
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns!"
THE MESSIAH. — Pope.

"O heart of mine, keep patience! - Looking forth
As from the Mount of Vision, I behold,

Pure, just, and free, the Church of Christ on earth,-
The martyr's dream, the golden age foretold!
And found at last, the mystic Graal I see

Brimmed with His blessing, pass from lip to lip
In sacred pledge of human fellowship;
And over all the songs of angels hear,—
Songs of the love that casteth out all fear,—
Songs of the Gospel of Humanity;

Lo! in the midst, with the same look He wore
Healing and blessing on Gennesaret's shore,
Folding together, with the all-tender might
Of His great love, the dark hands and the white,
Stands the Consoler, soothing every pain,
Making all burdens light, and breaking every chain."
LINES ON A PRAYER-BOOK. - Whittier.

"O earth, so full of dreary noises!

O men, with wailing in your voices!

O delvéd gold, the wailer's heap!

O strife, O curse, that o'er it fall!

God makes a silence through you all,

And giveth His belovéd, sleep!"

THE SLEEP. - Mrs. Browning.

"Oh! change- oh! wondrous change —

Burst are the prison-bars

This moment-there, so low,

So agonized and now —
Beyond the stars!

"Oh! change-stupendous change!

There lies the soulless clod:

The Sun eternal breaks

The new Immortal wakes

Wakes with his God!"

THE PAUPER'S DEATH-BED. — Mrs. Southey.

Expulsive Orotund.

Expulsive orotund appropriately belongs to earnest and vehement declamation, to impassioned emotion-and therefore to any language uttered in the form of shouting.

Examples.

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote! It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we aimed not at independence. But there is a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life, and his own honor? Are not you, Sir, who sit in that chair,- is not he, our venerable colleague near you,—are not both already proscribed and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws?" —- Supposed SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS.— Webster.

"The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ear the sound of clashing arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that Gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!". Patrick Henry.

"Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again!

I hold to you the hands you first beheld,

To show they are still free. Methinks I hear

A spirit in your echoes answer me,

And bid your tenant welcome to his home

Again!

O sacred forms, how proud you look!

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