The American Union Speaker | Page 2

of the kind has been included in this volume. A
summary of practical suggestions to teachers and students was thought
to form a more useful introduction. For the sake of artistic beauty in the
page, as well as for the convenience of the student, the notes and
explanatory remarks necessary for the proper understanding of the

pieces, have been thrown together at the end of the volume, and so
arranged that reference to them can be easily made.
This work, the preparation of which has been a recreation rather than a
labor--an agreeable diversion from the daily routine of a laborious
office,--is the embodiment of the experience and observation of
twenty-five years, with reference to this description of literature. It
originated in a desire to contribute something to the furtherance of the
right education of the young men of my country, and the extent to
which it promotes this object, will in my estimation, be the measure of
its success.
Boston, July 4, 1864.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON DECLAMATION.
It is not my purpose to present here a theory of elocution, or a
systematic treatise on the art of speaking. My object will be
accomplished if I succeed in furnishing a summary of practical
suggestions and hints on the subject of declamation which shall prove
useful both to student and to such teachers as have not made the study
of elocution a specialty.
That a correct and impressive elocution is a desirable attainment, few
will venture to deny. In my judgment it is the crowning grace of a
liberal education. To the highest success in those professions which
involve public speaking, it is, of course, indispensable. No person,
whatever is to be his destination in life, who aspires to a respectable
education and to mingle in good society, can afford to dispense with
this accomplishment. If a young man means to succeed in life and
attain distinction and influence, he should spare no pains in the
cultivation of the faculty of speech. The culture of his vocal organs
should keep pace with the culture of his mental powers. While
acquiring a knowledge of literature and science, he should also form
the habit of speaking his vernacular with propriety, grace, ease, and
elegance, sparing no effort to acquire what has been aptly called "the
music of the phrase; that clear, flowing, and decided sound of the
whole sentence, which embraces both tone and accent, and which is
only to be learned from the precept and example of an accomplished
teacher."
As a means of acquiring an appropriate, effective, and graceful

elocution for the purposes of conversation, reading, and public
speaking, the exercise of declamation, when properly conducted,
cannot be too highly valued. It must be confessed, however that the
practice of declaiming as managed in some institutions, is
comparatively useless, if not positively injurious. Hence arises the
prejudice against it which exists in some quarters. And it is not
surprising that the results of declamation should be unsatisfactory,
considering the defective methods of conducting it, which are still
prevalent in not a few places. What can be expected of declamation
which consists in repeating on the stage a few pieces,--injudiciously
selected and imperfectly committed,--without previous or
accompanying vocal training? The remarks of Dr. Rush, on this topic,
though made more than a quarter of a century ago, are still to some
extent applicable. "Go to some, may I say all, of our colleges and
universities, and observe how the art of speaking is not taught. See a
boy of but fifteen treats sent upon the stage, pale and choking with
apprehension, in an attempt to do that, without instruction, which he
came purposely to learn; and furnishing amusement to his classmates,
by a pardonable awkwardness, which should be punished in the person
of his pretending but neglectful preceptor with little less than scourging.
Then visit a conservatory of music; observe there the orderly tasks, the
masterly discipline, the unwearied superintendence and the incessant
toil to produce accomplishment of voice; and afterward do not be
surprised that the pulpit, the senate, the bar, and the chair of the
medical professorship are filled with such abominable drawlers,
mouthers, mumblers, clutterers, squeakers, chanters, and mongers in
monotony; nor that the schools of singing are constantly sending
abroad those great instances of vocal wonder, who draw forth the
intelligent curiosity and produce the crowning delight and approbation
of the prince and the sage."
This eminent writer's great work on the Philosophy of the Human
Voice has done much to correct the evil which he so graphically
described. There are now some schools and colleges to be found in
which elocution is taught with much skill and success. Among the
disciples of Dr. Rush who have most successfully cultivated the art of
elocution in America, the foremost place