The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1859-10-29
!, SALT LAKE CITY, SATURDAY., OCTOBER 90 1850

other, is, that whilst be is engaged III
speaking in this key he Is al perfect
ease, and will be at perfect ease dur
ing the continuance Of very protracted
argument, II he be perfect master
Of the subject discussed And ii may
be safely stated that when speaking in.
q key above the natural level DC his
voice, the voice being under the press
ure Of q straining exertion during the.
whole course Of an argument, the
speaker viii be actuated by an impa-
tient spirit from the irksoIne character
of the process Of speaking in q key DC.
too great elevation; and from i feeling
of repugnance 10 the labor involved IN.
the undertaking, he will omit the min-
ute particulars, facts, and data per-
tanning to his cause or proposition; and
will confne himself almost exclusively
to the boldest and most prominent.
points, which will not Be presented with
any peculiar degree Of felicity.
In connection with this branch &c the
subject, it may BE- very appropriately
suggested to the pupil, that the natural
key of the human voice IS tie only
point Of elevation in speaking at which
the speaker may be able to acquire
and command the graces Of action, and
reduce them to practice whenever he
participates in the labors Of discus
sion, delivers an address, on indnlges
in the exercise Of reading. For the
purpose of testing the business DC this
proposition, the pupil may deelaim
speech which has been committed to
memory, read IN address, OF i chapter
IN any book, and practice gesticulation
Ein conjunction with either Of these ex-
EeYcises, and he may perceive with per-.
feet clearness the imperfect nature of
his gestures, on every pitch Of the
voice he may strike or select, except
the natural one. And this Key Of the
voice proves itself To be the proper
one, because gesticulation Is conducted
with perfect case whenever the pupil
may Be able to command that particu-
lar key, in the exercise Of reading or
speaking; and because in addition to
this, the gestures are certain to be-
come difficult, irregular, and broken,
whenever he deserts this pitch of the
voice, for any other on which it may
be exerted, in the act Of speaking. /,
This inability Of speaker to move
his hands with perfect freedom and
facility, results from the fact that those
functions Of the body, the exertion Of
which produces the voice, do not at the
moment Of speaking act and move with
perfect ease and freedom themselves.
/ Speech or sound is produced BY the
motion OF action of certain organs or
/ parts of the body, as much as gesticu-
lation is produced BY the action Of GER
tain members Of the body called the
hands. The organs Of speech have
not extension, Ike tho hands, and their
action is not perceptible, like that of
the hands, to the organ Of vision. But
/ yet they are moved at the will of the
tpossessor, by putting them in motion,
Just as the hands are moved at the will
fof their possessor by d certain amount
lof exertion. But it the organs of
tspeech, when speech is intended to be
produced, are not in condition to act
with perfect fexibility, the hands viii
act in sympathy with these organs, and
will fail to move with fexibility. Of
sweep when they are put in motion by
4 the will, to produce gesticulation.
Or il the speaker, when be commences
the business of speaking, should bring
Ito bear upon the organs of speech, too
large an amount Of pressure to admit
LOT their executing their functions with
lease, then the hands win also refuse to
execute their functions in motion with
a graceful measure Of ease, just as
/ the voice, no matter how tuneful and
flexible it might be at the time, would
4 certainly yield q broken current Of
measure of sound, if the speaker, in
delivering a speech, or sentence in .
speech, should, when attempting to
raise his hand to make gesture al
any given point, find it bound to his
side, or encountered by an amount Of
j weight which would prevent him from
moving it at all, or which would pre-.
vent him from moving it backward ant
forward, or. upward and downward
without the application of considerabl,
texertiOn. & b. 4. ~
The operation Of the foregoing prin-
clple will be clearly detected in ma
4 ehinav.,, \ q 80 u I. 80 ~ q