Rise! Rise!- ye citizens, your gates defend: behold the foe is at hand......

   As many of you may know by now, in addition to gardening and mowing the lawn, some of my time is spent buying, selling and trading antiques. I am far from being an expert, but I know what I like and do not like and that will often influence what I  purchase. The challenge is,  however, that sometimes with the best intention of selling an item to make a  little money so I can buy more, I keep it,  finding a spot somewhere in the house and add it to my ever increasing collection of “things.”

   Trunks and early wooden blanket boxes have always been a favorite. Most of the ones I buy are empty, but every once and a while one will come filled with surprises and rare finds, like old clothing, books and letters, offering an added look back into an earlier time and era.

   The letters can be the most interesting, revealing the loves, hates and deepest thoughts of the writer or family members. Letters written during the Civil War era can be very insightful about the time and have become very collectible.

   Clothing, although not one of my favorites, also reflects the culture and trends of  society. The amount of cotton, lace and silk might indicate the wealth and social status of a person or family.

   Often tucked away deep under the old clothing or blankets one might find early books and magazines. Today, buried near the bottom you might likely find a copy or two of a Playboy Magazine or Hustler, hidden and out of sight of a nosy brother or sister but in some of the older trunks, it would be more common to find old text books. Why someone would save an old text book I am not sure, but..... don't look on my bookshelves. OK. Some of those are old textbooks? Were the ever opened? They look brand new!

   On this particular day, between the dresses and hand sewn aprons was a copy of the “Rhetorical Reader; Instructions For Regulating the Voice.” About the size of a modern day paperback book, this one had a leather cover. Copy write date... 1839. What was even more interesting... on the title page was the printed notation of this printing being the fifty-second edition. Must have been very popular. Maybe even a classic!

   Written by Ebenezer Porter, D.D., the book was 'designed'  for use in academies and high schools. Filled with sample essays and various word pronunciation exercises, students, under the careful direction of the teacher were to read aloud the various passages, using proper word pronunciation along with appropriate voice and tone inflection.. It was the belief of the author that the art of reading and speaking well in public with convincing and confident voice were as important as the message being spoken. “Good speaking is of prime usefulness,” he is quoted as saying in the preface. Who, even in 2014, is not moved with emotion by the speaker who has mastered the art of proper verbal inflection, rhetorical pauses and phrasing and strength of voice with impeccable articulation.

   The leather bound book in the bottom of the trunk was well worn along the covers' edges with pages torn, dog-eared and discolored. Many pages were scribbled with notes, arrows, accent marks above certain  words and underlined  phrases in the numerous exercises at the end of each chapter.. 

   I am sure the book is filled with a history of lesson its own . Was its owner going off to Harvard College, was he a preacher, a politician, a member of Congress, a judge, a member of a 'higher' society, or someone seeking to escape the world of slavery by learning to speak with more authority and skill. (Because of the time and era of the printing, the author makes reference to only 'men' and the importance of public speaking.)

   Words can be powerful tools to influence, to foster change and to express deep emotions. When read on the printed page, they can express a particular level meaning, but when spoken with 'rhetorical notation' and emotion, as the book describes it, a skilled speaker can bring an entirely new meaning and understanding to the message.

   I doubt there are many schools or institution of learning that spend much time teaching the skills and importance of public speaking. There are probably very few who go to school each day with a copy of “The Rhetorical Reader” jammed in their back pocket along with their cell phone.

   But if public speaking should become important again and you want to get a head start by practicing, stand in front of a mirror and repeat  over and over 'with rhetorical feeling'…...”Rise! Rise!- ye citizens, your gates defend: behold the foe is at hand!”