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PREFACE.

The design of the present work, is, as intimated in the title, to furnish a manual of elocution, prepared with particular reference to the purposes of the palpit.

. The author's previous publications, – the American Elocutionist, and the volume on Orthophony, are intended for general use, in all literary establishments in which elocution forms a department of instruction. These two manuals furnish, it is thought, all the requisite means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the principles of elocution,- either in a practical or a scientific form, at the option of the student.

The Orthophony prescribes the elementary discipline by which to train the organs to vigor and pliancy, and to mould the voice, in adaptation to the various modes of expressive utterance. It furnishes a series of elementary lessons on the systematic cultivation of the voice, — adapted to the theory and nomenclature of Dr. Rush. It includes, also, the methods of instruction, and the forms of exercise, introduced by Mr. J. E. Murdoch, in his system of “vocal gymnastics,” along with those which are used by the author of the present volume, in his modes of practical training.

The elocutionist presents, more particularly, the correct pronunciation of words, and the application of the rules of elocution, in connection with rhetoric and prosody. It comprises a course of practical instruction in enunciation, inflection, emphasis, rhetorical pauses, expressive tone, and the rudiments of gesture.

The general principles of elocution, however, as a science, and its practice, as an art, need particular modification, to accommodate them to the appropriate purposes of professional culture, for stu

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7stre 98 81-8

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by

WILLIAM RUSSELL, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

The design of the present work, is, as intimated in the title, to furnish a manual of elocution, prepared with particular reference to the purposes of the pulpit.

The author's previous publications, — the American Elocutionist, and the volume on Orthophony, are intended for general use, in all literary establishments in which elocution forms a department of instruction. These two manuals furnish, it is thought, all the requisite means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the principles of elocution,- either in a practical or a scientific form, at the option of the student.

The Orthophony prescribes the elementary discipline by which to train the organs to vigor and pliancy, and to mould the voice, in adaptation to the various modes of expressive utterance. It furnishes a series of elementary lessons on the systematic cultivation of the voice, — adapted to the theory and nomenclature of Dr. Rush. It includes, also, the methods of instruction, and the forms of exercise, introduced by Mr. J. E. Murdoch, in his system of “ vocal gymnastics,” along with those which are used by the author of the present volume, in his modes of practical training.

The elocutionist presents, more particularly, the correct pronunciation of words, and the application of the rules of elocution, in connection with rhetoric and prosody. It comprises a course of practical instruction in enunciation, inflection, emphasis, rhetorical pauses, expressive lone, and the rudiments of gesture.

The general principles of elocution, however, as a science, and its practice, as an art, need particular modification, to accommodate them to the appropriate purposes of professional culture, for stu

dents of theology. The style of voice, adapted to the correct and
impressive reading of a hymn, the Scriptures, or a sermon, requires
special attention and study, and a separate course of practice. The
delivery of a discourse from the pulpit, demands an appropriate
training, distinct from that of popular oratory. - The materials and
the suggestions for such cultivation, the present volume is designed
to supply.

The plan on which the contents of the following pages, are ar-
ranged, embraces,

1st, Introductory Observations on the importance of Elocution,
as a department of Theological Study.

2d, Remarks on the effect of Manner, in Voice and Gesture, as
exemplified in the pulpit.

3d, A brief Summary of the most important Principles of Elocu-
tion, with particular referenee to their exemplification in the read-
ing of the Scriptures, hymns, and sermons.

4th, Exercises in these forms of reading, selected and arranged
for the particular application of rules and principles.

5th, A brief statement of the Principles of Gesture.

6th, Miscellaneous Extracts, for practice in Reading and Speak-
ing, intended to be analyzed by the student, and classified, in their
various contents, under the points of practical elocution which they
illustrate.