e of perfect conviction, barred my
progress. 'The next!' and I sat down in red confusion. He, too, was
stopped with 'No!' but went right on, finished, and, as he sat down,
was rewarded with, 'Very well.'

"'Why,' whimpered I, 'I recited it just as he did, and you said No!'

"'Why didn't you say _Yes_, and stick to it? It is not enough to know
your lesson. You must _know_ that you know it. You have learned
nothing until you are _sure_. If all the world says _No_, your
business is to say _Yes_ and to _prove it!_'"

The other helper of this period was John E. Lovell.

In a column of the _Christian Union_, of July 14, 1880, devoted to
"Inquiring Friends," appeared this question with the accompanying
answer:

"We heard Mr. Beecher lecture recently in Boston and found the lecture
a grand lesson in elocution. If Mr. Beecher would give through the
column of 'Inquiring Friends' the methods of instruction and practice
pursued by him, it would be very thankfully received by a subscriber
and student.

"E. D. M."

"I had from childhood a thickness of speech arising from a large
palate, so that when a boy I used to be laughed at for talking as if I
had pudding in my mouth. When I went to Amherst I was fortunate in
passing into the hands of John Lovell, a teacher of elocution, and a
better teacher for my purpose I cannot conceive. His system consisted
in drill, or the thorough practice of inflexions by the voice, of
gesture, posture, and articulation. Sometimes I was a whole hour
practising my voice on a word--like 'justice.' I would have to take a
posture, frequently at a mark chalked on the floor. Then we would go
through all the gestures, exercising each movement of the arm and the
throwing open the hand. All gestures except those of precision go in
curves, the arm rising from the side, coming to the front, turning to
the left or right. I was drilled as to how far the arm should come
forward, where it should start from, how far go back, and under what
circumstances these movements should be made. It was drill, drill,
drill, until the motions almost became a second nature. Now I never
know what movements I shall make. My gestures are natural, because
this drill made them natural to me. The only method of acquiring an
effective education is by practice, of not less than an hour a day,
until the student has his voice and himself thoroughly subdued and
trained to right expression.

"H. W. B."

Mr. M