of those ideas which are in the mind of the First Being, and that those ideas which are in the mind of man, are a transcript of the world. To this we may add, that words are the transcript of those ideas which are in the mind of man, and that writing or printing is the transcript of words. As the Supreme Being has expressed, and, as it were, printed his ideas in the creation, men express their ideas in books, which, by this great invention of these latter ages, may last as long as the sun and moon, and perish only in the general wreck of nature. 'There is no other method of fixing those thoughts which arise and disappear in the mind of man, and transmitting them to the last periods of time; no other method of giving a permanency to our ideas, and preserving the knowledge of any particular person, when his body is mixed with the coinmon mass of matter, and his soul retired into the world of spirits. Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation, as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn. 'All other arts of perpetuating our ideas, continue but a short time. Statues can last but a few thousands of years, edifices fewer, and colours still fewer than edifices. Michael Angelo, Fontana, and Raffaelle, will, hereafter, be what Phidias, Vitruvius, and Appelles, are at present; the names of great statuaries, architects, and painters, whose works are lost. The several arts are expressed in mouldering materials. Nature sinks under them, and is not able to support the ideas which are impressed upon it.. 'The circumstance which gives authors an advantage above all these great masters, is this, that they can multiply their originals, or, rather, can make copies of their works, to what number they please, which shall be as valuable as the ticularly when composed in moderate and unimpassioned style, be properly read in merely pure tone. But the public reading of the same may, from the larger demands of space, and, consequently, the fuller tone of voice, be carried to the extent of moderate orotund utterance. originals themselves. This gives a great author a prospect of something like eternity.-If writings are thus durable, and may pass from age to age, throughout the whole course of time, how careful should an author be of committing anything to print, that may corrupt posterity, and poison the minds of men with vice and error" Solemnity. Funeral Hymn. How still and peaceful is the grave, The wicked there from troubling cease,- All, levelled by the hand of death, To meet their final doom. 'Orotund Quality.'* This mode of voice is characterized by peculiar roundness, fulness, and resonance, combining the 'purity' of the 'head tone' with the reverberation of the chest. It has a deeper effect than mere purity of tone, and usually ranges with the bass notes of the male voice; while the head tone has a lighter character, and seldom extends below the tenor level. Oro * The term 'orotund' Dr. Rush has adopted from a modification of the Latin phrase 'ore rotundo.' The word, as was mentioned before, is a good technical designation in elocution; as it not only intimates the peculiar rotundity of the proper voice for public speaking, but the special condition of the interior and back parts of the mouth, which its production requires. See Orthophony. tund quality is the natural mode of utterance in all deep, powerful, and sublime emotions. It belongs, accordingly, to oratory, and to the bolder forms of poetry. Orotund utterance is, like pure tone, a most effective aid to easy and full voice. It serves to diminish the fatigue of vocal exertion, and, at the same time, to give out clear and agreeable sound: it renders the utmost force of energetic utterance easily practicable; and, by throwing vigour into the voice, it spares the lungs. The remarks on frequency of practice in pure tone, apply also to orotund quality. Every exercise should be perfectly mastered before proceeding to another; and the practice should not cease till all the 'tonic elements' can be easily and exactly executed in orotund style. Pathos* and Sublimity. Rome.-Byron. 'O Rome! my country! city of the soul! What are our woes and sufferance?—Come and see A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay. 'The Niobe of nations! there she stands, * Pathos, repose, and solemnity, if united with grandeur, assume the orotund voice, although, without this union, they do not transcend the comparatively moderate limits of pure tone. The orotund is the distinctive quality of grandeur and power. Of their heroic dwellers :-dost thou flow, Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness? Repose, Solemnity, and Sublimity. Now came still evening on; and twilight gray Solemnity, Sublimity, and Pathos. The Treasures of the Deep.-Mrs. Hemans. • What hid'st thou in thy treasure-caves and cells, We ask not such from thee. 'Yet more, the depths have more!-What wealth untold Far down, and shining through their stillness lies! Thou hast the starry gems, the burning gold, Won from ten thousand royal argosies.— Sweep o'er thy spoils, thou wild and wrathful main : 'Yet more, the depths have more !-Thy waves have rolled Above the cities of a world gone by! Sand hath filled up the palaces of old, Sea-weed o'ergrown the halls of revelry !— 'Yet more, the billows and the depths have more: 'Give back the lost and lovely! those for whom To thee the love of woman hath gone down: Energy and Sublimity. Hallowed Ground.--Campbell. 'What's hallowed ground?-Has earth a clod Its Maker meant not should be trod By man, the image of his God,- 'That's hallowed ground, where, mourned and missed, But where's their memory's mansion?—Is't |