There is also an entirely different tone, which might be described as lying almost outside the range of the instrument. The Greeks call it bitterness, and it consists in an extravagant acerbity almost beyond the compass of the human voice. It is employed in passages such as, pro Rab. perd. vi. 18. Why do you not restrain those cries, the proof of your folly and the evidence of your small numbers? But the extravagance of which I spoke will come in at the opening, where the orator cries, Why do you not restrain?

The peroration, if it involves a recapitulation, requires an even utterance of short, clear-cut clauses. If, on the other hand, it is designed to stir the emotions of the judges, it will demand some of the qualities already mentioned. If it aims at soothing them, it should How softly; if it is to rouse them to pity, the voice must be delicately modulated to a melancholy sweetness, which is at once most natural and specially adapted to touch the heart. For it may be noted that even orphans and widows have a certain musical quality in the lamentations which they utter at funerals.

A muffled voice, such as Cicero Brutt. xxxviii. 141. says was possessed by Antonius, will also be exceedingly effective under such circumstances, since it has just the natural tone which we seek to imitate. Appeals to pity are, however, of two kinds: they may be marked by an admixture of indignation, as in the passage just quoted § 162. describing the condemnation of Philodamus, or they may be coupled with appeals for mercy, in which case their tone will be more subdued.

Therefore although there is a suggestion of the chanting tone in the delivery of such passages as In an assembly of the Roman people (for he did not utter these words in a contentious tone), or in Ye hills and groves of Alba (for he did not say this as though he were appealing to them or calling them to witness), the ensuing phrases pro Mil. xxxvii. 102. require infinitely greater modulation and longer-drawn harmonies: Ah, woe is me, unhappy that I am! and What shall I reply to my children? and You, Milo, had the power to recall me to my country with the aid of these men, and shall I be powerless by their aid to keep you in that same country, your native land and mine? or when he offers to sell the property of Gaius Rabirius at one sesterce, Ah, what a sad and bitter task my voice is called on to perform! pro Rab. Post, xvii. 46. addicit, lit. knocks down : praeconium, lit. the task of the public crier. Again,

it is a most effective device to confess in the peroration that the strain of grief and fatigue is overpowering, and that our strength is sinking beneath them, as Cicero does in his defence of Milo: pro Mil. xxxviii. 105. But here I must make an end: I can no longer speak for tears. And in such passages our delivery must conform to our words.

It may be thought that there are other points which should be mentioned in connexion with the duties of the orator in this portion of his speech, such as calling forward the accused, lifting up his children for the court to see, producing his kinsfolk, and rending his garments; but they have been dealt with in their proper place. VI. i. 30. Such being the variety entailed by the different portions of our pleading, it is sufficiently clear that our delivery must be adapted to our matter, as I have already shown, and sometimes also, though not always conform to our actual words, as I have just remarked. § 173.

For instance, must not the words, This poor wretched, poverty-stricken man, be uttered in a low, subdued tone, whereas, A hold and violent fellow and a robber, is a phrase requiring a strong and energetic utterance? For such conformity gives a force and appropriateness to our matter, and without it the expression of the voice will be out of harmony with our thought.

Again, what of the fact that a change of delivery may make precisely the same words either demonstrate or affirm, express reproach, denial, wonder or indignation, interrogation, mockery or depreciation? For the word thou is given a different expression in each of the following passages: Thou this poor kingdom dost on me bestow.Aen. i. 78. and Thou vanquish him in song?Ecl. iii. 25. and Art thou, then, that Aeneas?Aen i. 617. and And of fear,Do thou accuse me, Drances!Aen. xi. 383. To cut a long matter short, if my reader will take this or any other word he chooses and run it through the whole gamut of emotional expression, he will realise the truth of what I say.

There is one further remark which I must add, namely, that while what is becoming is the main consideration in delivery, different methods will often suit different speakers. For this is determined by a principle which, though it is obscure and can hardly be expressed in words, none the less exists: and, though it is a true saying de Or. I. xxix. 132 that the main secret of artistic success is that whatever we do should become us well, none the less, despite the fact that such success cannot be attained without art, it is impossible entirely to communicate the secret by the rules of art.

There are some persons in whom positive excellences have no charm, while there are others whose very faults give pleasure. We have seen the greatest of comic actors, Demetrius and Stratocles, win their success by entirely different merits. But that is the less surprising owing to the fact that the one was at his best in the rôles of gods, young men, good fathers and slaves, matrons and respectable old women, while the other excelled in the portrayal of sharptempered old men, cunning slaves, parasites, pimps and all the more lively characters of comedy. For their natural gifts differed. For Demetrius' voice, like his other qualities, had greater charm, while that of Stratocles was the more powerful.

But yet more noticeable were the incommunicable peculiarities of their action. Demetrius showed unique gifts in the movements of his hands, in his power to charm his audience by the longdrawn sweetness of his exclamations, the skill with which he would make his dress seem to puff out with wind as he walked, and the expressive movements of the right side which he sometimes introduced with effect, in all of which things he was helped by his stature and personal beauty.

On the other hand, Stratocles' forte lay in his nimbleness and rapidity of movement, in his laugh (which, though not always in keeping with the character lie represented, he deliberately employed to awaken answering laughter in his audience), and finally, even in the way in which he sank his neck into his shoulders. If either of these actors had attempted any of his rival's tricks, he would have produced a most unbecoming effect. Consequently, every man must get to know his own peculiarities and must consult not merely the general rules of technique, but his own nature as well with a view to forming his delivery.

But there is no law of heaven which prohibits the possession of all or at any rate the majority of styles by one and the same person. I must conclude this topic with a remark which applies to all my other topics as well, that the prime essential is a sense of proportion. For I am not trying to form a comic actor, but an orator. Consequently, we need not study all the details of gesture nor, as regards our speaking, be pedantic in the use we make of the rules governing punctuation, rhythm and appeals to the emotions.

For example, if an actor has to speak the following lines on the stage: Ter. Eun. I. i. 1. What shall I do then? Not go, even now,Now when she calls me? Or shall I steel my soulNo longer to endure a harlot's insults? he will hesitate as in doubt, will vary the modulations of his voice, together with the movements of hand and head. But oratory has a different flavour and objects to elaborate condiments, since it consists in serious pleading, not in mimicry.

There is, therefore, good reason for the condemnation passed on a delivery which entails the continual alteration of facial expression, annoying restlessness of gesture and gusty changes of tone. And it was a wise saying that the ancient orators borrowed from the Greeks, as is recorded by Popilius Laenas, to the effect that there is too much business in such delivery.

The instructions given by Cicero on this subject, as on all others, are quite admirable; I allude to the passages which I have already quoted from his Orator, § 122. while there are similar observations in the Brutus Brut. xxxviii. 141. with reference to Marcus Antonius. But to-day a rather more violent form of delivery has come into fashion and is demanded of our orators: it is well adapted to certain portions of a speech, but requires to be kept under control. Otherwise, in our attempt to ape the elegances of the stage, we shall lose the authority which should characterise the man of dignity and virtue.