LESSON XXXIX

THE VOICE

A good voice has a charm in speech as in song. The voice, like the
face, betrays the nature and disposition, and soon indicates what is
the range of the speaker's mind.

Many people have no ear for music; but everyone has an ear for skillful
reading. Every one of us has at some time been the victim of a cunning
voice, and perhaps been repelled once for all by a harsh, mechanical
speaker.

The voice, indeed, is a delicate index of the state of mind.

What character, what infinite variety, belongs to the voice! Sometimes
it is a flute, sometimes a trip-hammer; what a range of force! In
moments of clearer thought or deeper sympathy, the voice will attain a
music and penetration which surprise the speaker as much as the hearer.




LESSON XL

THE INTREPID YOUTH

It was a calm, sunny day in the year 1750; the scene a piece of forest
land in the north of Virginia, near a noble stream of water.
Implements for surveying were lying about, and several men composed a