a-l, e-l, i-l, o-l, u-l ———l-a, l-e, l-i, l-o, l-u, l-oi, l-ou

-m-a, m-e, m-i, m-o, m-u, m-oi, m-ou

a-m, e-m, i-m, o-m, u-ma-n, e-n, i-n, o-n, u-n-n-a, n-e, n-i, n-o, n-u, n-oi, n-ou -p-a, p-e, p-i, p-o, p-u, p-oi, p-ou

a-p, e-p, i-p, o-p, u-pa-r, e-r, i-r, o-r, u-ra-s, e-s, i-s, o-s, u-sa-t, e-t, i-t, o-t, u-t―t-a, t-e, t-i, t-o, t-u, t-oi, t-ou a-v, e-v, i-v, o-v, u-v—v-a, v-e, v-i, v-o, v-u, v-oi, v-ou a-z, e-z, i-z, o-z, u-z-z-a, z-e, z-i, z-o, z-u, z-oi, z-ou

-r-a, r-e, r-i, r-o, r-u, r-oi, r-ou -s-a, s-e, s-i, s-o, s-u, s-oi, s-ou

PART 2. EXPRESSION

DISTINCTNESS

It is of primary importance that the reader or speaker be easily heard. Loudness of voice is not so agreeable, nor so well understood as one of moderate volume if the tone be clear and the articulation distinct. It is good practise to dissect words and examine them syllable by syllable. When you read or speak, do not slur a single sound that should be enunciated. Bring your lips into full play, but do not mouth your words. It may be well to state here that daily care of the teeth plays an important part in correct articulation. The various extracts in this lesson should be read with particular regard to enunciating the elements in each word, with special attention to terminations. This preliminary practise is desirable, in order that you may eventually read and speak without conscious thought of your enunciation.

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTISE

1. Blest is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness; he has a life purpose. Labor is life. From the heart of the worker rises the celestial force breathed into him by Almighty God, awakening him to all nobleness, to all knowledge. Hast thou the valued patience, courage, openness to light, or readiness to own thy mistakes? In wrestling with the dim brute powers of fact thou wilt continually learn. For every noble work the possibilities are diffused through immensity, undiscoverable except to faith.

"Labor."

THOMAS CARLYLE.

2. "Lazy wire!" exclaimed the dial-plate, holding up its hands.

"Very good!" replied the pendulum; "it is vastly easy for you, Mistress Dial, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me-it is vastly easy for you, I say, to accuse other people of laziness-you who have nothing to do all the days of your life but to stare people in the face, and to amuse yourself with watching all that goes on in the kitchen! Think, I beseech you, how you would like to be shut up for life in this dark closet, and to wag backward and forward, year after year, as I do."

"As to that," said the dial, is there not a window in your house on purpose for you to look through?" "For all that," resumed the pendulum, "it is very dark here; and altho there is a window I dare not stop, even for an instant, to look out at it. Besides, I am really tired of my way of life; and if you wish I'll tell you how I took this disgust at my employment. I happened this morning to be calculating how many times I should have to tick in the course of only the next twentyfour hours; perhaps some of you above there can give me the exact sum.

The minute-hand, being quick at figures, presently replied: "Eighty-six thousand four hundred times."

"The Discontented Pendulum."

JANE TAYLOR.

3. A cannon which breaks its moorings becomes abruptly some indescribable, supernatural beast. It is a machine which transforms itself into a monster. This mass runs on its wheels, like billiard-balls, inclines with the rolling, plunges with the pitching, goes, comes, stops, seems to meditate, resumes its course, shoots from one end of the ship to the other like an arrow, whirls, steals away, evades, prances, strikes, breaks, kills, exterminates. It is a ram which capriciously assails a wall. Add this the ram is of iron, the wall is of wood. This furious bulk has the leaps of a panther, the weight of the elephant, the agility of the mouse, the pertinacity of the ax, the unexpectedness of the surge, the rapidity of lightning, the silence of the sepulcher. It weighs ten thousand pounds, and it rebounds like a child's ball. Its whirlings are suddenly cut at right angles. What is to be done? How shall an end be put to its movements? A tempest ceases, a cyclone passes, a wind goes down, a broken mast is replaced, a leak is stopt, a fire put out-but what shall be done with this enormous brute of bronze? How try to secure it? You can reason with a dog, paralyze a bull, fascinate a serpent, terrify a tiger, and soften the noble heart of a lion; no resource with such a monster as a loose cannon.

"The Monster Cannon."

VICTOR HUGO.

4. A day or two ago, during a lull in business, two little bootblacks, one white and one black, were standing at the corners doing nothing, when the white bootblack agreed to black the black bootblack's boots. The black bootblack was, of course. willing to have his boots blacked by his fellow bootblack, and the bootblack who had agreed to black the black bootblack's boots went to work.

When the bootblack had blacked one of the black bootblack's boots till it shone in a manner that would make any bootblack proud, this bootblack who had agreed to black the black bootblack's boots refused to black the other foot of the black bootblack until the black bootblack, who had consented to have the white bootblack black his boots, should add five cents to the amount the white bootblack had made blacking other men's boots. This the bootblack whose boot had been blacked refused

to do, saying it was good enough for a black bootblack to have one foot blacked, and he didn't care whether the boot that the white bootblack hadn't blacked was blacked or not.

This made the bootblack who had blacked the black bootblack's boot as angry as a bootblack often gets, and he vented his black wrath by spitting upon the blacked boot of the black bootblack. This roused the latent passions of the black bootblack, and he proceeded to boot the white bootblack with the boot which the white bootblack had blacked. A fight ensued, in which the white bootblack who had refused to black the unblackened boot of the black bootblack blacked the black bootblack's visionary organ, and in which the black bootblack wore all of the blacking off his blacked boot in booting the white bootblack.

"The Two Bootblacks."

ANON.

PART 1. DRILL

1. Physical Culture. Clench the fists, the palms downward; bring the right arm straight over the head; while returning to position, bring the left arm up in like manner, and continue to alternate twenty times. Keep the arms straight and breathe regularly.

2. Deep Breathing. Inhale through the nostrils a little air, hold for a moment, then inhale a little more air, and continue to hold and inhale until the entire capacity is filled. Exhale in like manner. Use the deep abdominal movement throughout.

3. Voice Exercise. Repeat the sounds of a, e, i, o, u, commencing with light whisper and gradually increasing to a very loud voice, then gradually diminishing to light whisper, first with rising inflections throughout. Repeat with falling inflections. Take a breath between each sound. The following table illustrates the form of this exercise: