RELATIONSHIP OF THE PARTS.

THE SUGGESTIVE PERIOD.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Nor knowest thou what argument

Thy life to thy neighbor's creed hath lent,
All are needed by each one,

Nothing is fair or good alone.

ST. PAUL.

Grateful acknowledgment is here made to the Publishers of Christian Science Sentinel for the use of My Prayer, and to Charles Scribner's Sons, John Lane Co., and Houghton, Mifflin Co., for their courteous permission to use in this volume selections of which they hold the copyright.

CHAPTER 1.

ELLIPSE.

With the growing perception of comparative values, the student is learning that the truth of his discourse lies not in one statement nor in another, but in the subtle relation of the statements to one another. Henceforth his aim is to reveal to his hearers that truth which is found between the lines rather than in them. He has now attained the plane of the Suggestive - he is in the realm of art.

Idealistic or suggestive art is not opposed to realism - it is a step beyond. Idealism grows out of realism; it is born of the despair of the realist. The orator, striving in all sincerity for fidelity to nature, recognizes eventually that exact reproduction of nature is impossible; that there are things which cannot be said in words. When he abandons his attempt to make words tell his message, and contents himself with letting his imagination flash upon the imagination of his hearers the thought that cannot be contained in words, then he has lifted his discourse from mere imitation of nature to nature illumined, interpreted, glorified, which is art.

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The suggestive in painting, music, sculpture, oratory, - in whatever art we may consider, — is that which conveys to the intuitive perception of the beholder or the listener what the artist could not literally express. It is revealed not by one or another stroke or color; not by one or another note or strain;

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not by one or another line or curve; not by one or another tone or gesture; but by the combinations, the relationships existing between the colors, the notes, the lines, the tones.

The first manifestation of this element in the art of expression is pause, or ellipse. The speaker pauses not because he chooses, but because his mind instinctively employs frequent pauses as loopholes, through which his pictures shine forth. Imagination has seized upon the agent of time, which is henceforth its invaluable servant. The term Ellipse is borrowed from mathematics. It recognizes silent mental calculations. As the mind of the astronomer from one or two relative points traces the complete path of a planet, so the orator from an occasional expressed idea must complete for his hearers the orbit of thought covered by his discourse. The words uttered are high-lights in the path from which should stream rays to illumine the whole orbit.

The subtle relationships of the parts of the discourse, and the relation of the subject to the audience, are carried continually in the mind of the speaker. He can impart a sense of these relationships, and influence other minds even while he is silent. Indeed, the silences when filled with thought are more significant than words can be. A great orator makes more pauses than his audience realizes; but he never makes one for the sake of making it. The pause is in the orator's speaking, not in his thinking. The pause must be pregnant with meaning and, like all form, must be the servant, never the master. This highest form of emphasis appears in the expression as an outgrowth of advanced evolution; it cannot be taught mechanically. It is the expression of a high mental activity: the speaker, resting upon the vastness of his thought, feels intuitively that much time is required to sink each thought deep into the mind of the listener. Since the pause is thus the servant of the thought, it calls no attention to itself. The thoughtful pause, or ellipse, quickens the imagination, causing the audience to hear sounds not actually made. The suggestive or artistic voice is the voice which suggests what tone cannot actualize, and what only the imagination can perceive.